After struggling heading into the All-Star break, Peavy takes the mound for the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night when they continue their series against the Kansas City Royals.
8:10 PM ET, July 19, 2011
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
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The right-hander's first start after the break was pushed back due to some arm issues. It's been just over a year since he underwent surgery to repair a torn latissimus dorsi muscle under his right shoulder.
Peavy said he planned to visit with a physical therapist during the break.
"My body has not bounced back," he said after his last start. "It's not hard to see. I'm throwing 85-90 mph with my fastball. Breaking balls aren't sharp, can't even strike anybody out with it. Certainly not characteristic, not what I've had in times past, even when I came back here. But I'm looking forward."
Peavy gave up five runs in six innings of a 5-3 loss to the Royals on July 5. He's dropped his last two starts against them after winning the previous four, including three with the White Sox.
He takes the mound as Chicago tries for its third straight victory at Kauffman Stadium. The White Sox (47-49) picked up their third win in four games since the break with a 5-2 victory over the last-place Royals (38-58) on Monday.
The Royals have lost three straight and seven of nine to drop a season-worst 20 games under .500. They had five hits Monday and are batting .196 while scoring eight runs during the three-game skid.
"You can make mistakes and end up giving up a run or two, but you better be able to cover it offensively and cover it on the pitching side," manager Ned Yost said. "We're just not able to cover mistakes right now."
Kansas City will hand the ball to Danny Duffy (1-4, 4.85), who has lost his last two starts and is winless in the last four. He gave up two runs and four hits while striking out six in six innings of a 3-1 defeat to Detroit on July 7.
Duffy made a start at Triple-A Omaha last week to stay sharp instead of having a long layoff between outings. He went six innings and gave up four earned runs.
The 22-year-old rookie left-hander is making his first appearance against the White Sox. He is 0-3 with a 4.85 ERA in five home starts.
Peavy will likely have a new catcher Tuesday as Tyler Flowers is expected to make his first start of the year. Flowers, called up July 10 when Ramon Castro went on the disabled list, appeared in 18 games for Chicago in 2009-10.
