| SEASON | CAREER |
| W7 | 116 |
| L5 | 86 |
| G17 | 268 |
| IP120.0 | 1701.0 |
| BB26 | 525 |
| SO108 | 1662 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W6 | 36 |
| L8 | 51 |
| G17 | 117 |
| IP98.0 | 683.0 |
| BB30 | 226 |
| SO71 | 458 |
It's two years to the day since Jake Peavy underwent a unique surgery that reattached a tendon to the back of his shoulder and essentially saved his career.
Fully recovered, Peavy looks to surpass his win total from each of the last two seasons and help the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox hand the Kansas City Royals a fifth straight loss Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.
In his first full season with Chicago in 2010, Peavy (7-5, 2.85 ERA) went 7-6 with a 4.63 ERA while muddling through 17 starts before he suffered a detached muscle behind his right shoulder. Peavy underwent an experimental procedure to fix the problem on July 14 of that season. He returned the following May, but finished 7-7 with a 4.92 ERA in 2011.
Finally comfortable again in 2012, Peavy earned his fourth career All-Star nod by going 7-5 with a 2.85 ERA in 17 starts prior to the break for a White Sox (48-38) team that has now opened up a three-game division lead over Cleveland.
Chicago's 9-8, 14-inning victory at Kansas City (37-48) on Friday was the club's 12th in 16 games.
"We are going to show up and go about each day the right way and pour our heart and souls into it and let the chips fall where they may," Peavy told the White Sox's official website.
The right-hander takes the same approach to his pitching. His teammates supported him with two total runs during a stretch from June 13-30 when Peavy went 0-4 despite a 2.70 ERA. That skid ended July 6 when he gave up a solo homer and four other hits in 7 1-3 innings of a 4-2 victory over Toronto.
"He could have nine, 10, 11 wins right now if we could've scored some runs for him," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said.Chicago has scored just one run while Peavy has posted a 3.43 ERA during a personal three-game road skid. He's 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in his career at Kauffman Stadium.
Kevin Youkilis delivered a sacrifice fly in the 14th early Saturday morning to help the White Sox win their second straight in Kansas City since losing five in a row there. Pierzynski had four hits while Adam Dunn hit his 26th homer and Alex Rios added his 13th.
Rios is batting .426 with five homers and 15 RBIs in his last 16 games, while Youkilis has driven in 15 runs in 14 games since Chicago acquired him from Boston.
Rios, however, is 3 for 20 against scheduled Kansas City starter Luke Hochevar (6-8, 5.14), who is 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in his last five starts. The right-hander allowed a two-run homer over five innings of a 9-6 win at Toronto on July 5, his most recent outing.
Hochevar is 1-4 with a 6.57 ERA in seven home starts, but that victory came the last time he took the mound there, an 8-0 seven-hitter over Tampa Bay on June 25 for his first complete game since 2010.
He gave up three hits in seven innings of a 5-0 victory at Chicago on May 12 to improve to 4-4 with a 4.15 ERA in 10 career starts against the White Sox.
Jeff Francoeur and Alex Gordon each had three hits for Kansas City on Friday, but the Royals lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
"We had a couple of situations to put it away, but didn't," manager Ned Yost said.
Francoeur is 8 for 21 lifetime versus Peavy. Teammate Mike Moustakas has homered in two of his last three games but is 0 for 8 against the former NL Cy Young award winner.
@
@
AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPS
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Gordon Beckham | 15 | .400 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .471 | 1.071 | .600 |
| Alejandro De Aza | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .000 |
| Adam Dunn | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .667 | .667 | .000 |
| Tyler Flowers | 4 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .500 | 1.750 | 1.250 |
| Kosuke Fukudome | 5 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .286 | .286 | .000 |
| Paul Konerko | 21 | .190 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | .346 | .822 | .476 |
| Brent Lillibridge | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 | .500 | .250 |
| Brent Morel | 6 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| A.J. Pierzynski | 17 | .118 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .118 | .236 | .118 |
| Alexei Ramirez | 17 | .471 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | .591 | 1.238 | .647 |
| Alex Rios | 17 | .118 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .167 | .285 | .118 |
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Yuniesky Betancourt | 15 | .200 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .188 | .388 | .200 |
| Billy Butler | 18 | .389 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | .476 | 1.365 | .889 |
| Alcides Escobar | 9 | .222 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .222 | .666 | .444 |
| Jeff Francoeur | 21 | .381 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | .381 | .810 | .429 |
| Chris Getz | 9 | .111 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .200 | .311 | .111 |
| Alex Gordon | 12 | .250 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .250 | .500 | .250 |
| Eric Hosmer | 7 | .143 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .333 | .476 | .143 |
| Mitch Maier | 11 | .091 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .091 | .182 | .091 |
| Mike Moustakas | 8 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jonathan Sanchez | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
 Chicago White Sox |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| June 29, 2012 | Kevin Youkilis | Day-to-Day | Left game - upset stomach |
| June 25, 2012 | Brian Bruney | 15-Day DL | Left hip inflammation |
| June 24, 2012 | Jesse Crain | 15-Day DL | Right shoulder inflammation |
| June 17, 2012 | Philip Humber | 15-Day DL | Right elbow flexor strain |
| June 13, 2012 | Adam Dunn | Day-to-Day | Sprained ankle |
| June 04, 2012 | Kosuke Fukudome | 15-Day DL | Strained right oblique |
 Kansas City Royals |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| July 05, 2012 | Luke Hochevar | Day-to-Day | Sprained right ankle |
| June 18, 2012 | Chris Getz | 15-Day DL | Lateral strain in lower left leg |
| June 18, 2012 | Chris Getz | 15-Day DL | Lateral strain in lower left leg |
| June 07, 2012 | Felipe Paulino | 15-Day DL | Strained right groin |
| May 26, 2012 | Jarrod Dyson | Day-to-Day | Left game - Right hamstring injury |
| May 22, 2012 | Chris Getz | 15-Day DL | Left ribcage contusion |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Alcides Escobar has been dutifully going to the gym every week, and not just going through the motions. The Royals shortstop has been putting in some work, and truly believes that he's becoming a stronger all-around player.
He made a believer out of a lot of people Saturday night.
Escobar hit a pair of homers off White Sox All-Star Jake Peavy , the second a go-ahead shot with two outs in the seventh inning, sending Kansas City to a morale-boosting 6-3 victory.
"I'm working out in the gym and I'm feeling very comfortable," said Escobar, who came into the game with two homers all season and 11 in his career. "I'm the same guy, though, just trying to hit the ball in the middle."
He certainly accomplished that - twice.
The 25-year-old Escobar connected on a two-run shot off Peavy (7-6) in the third inning, and after Adam Dunn and Dayan Viciedo helped Chicago knot the game 3-all in the sixth, the wiry young shortstop added a solo shot in the seventh for the first multihomer game of his career.
"He's making himself look like an All-Star-caliber-type player," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "We talked about it a bunch, but we knew he was a real athletic player, and once he grew into his body, he would be a real good big league hitter."
Jeff Francoeur and Lorenzo Cain added insurance runs in the eighth, and Greg Holland (3-2) won in relief. Jonathan Broxton rebounded from a blown save the previous night to retire the White Sox in order for his 22nd save of the season.
Broxton pumped his fist after finishing the game - and all the Royals fans that were in the ballpark Friday night probably did the same. Broxton gave up a run in the ninth in the series opener to turn a potential Royals victory into a 14-inning, 5 1/2-hour affair.
The White Sox eventually won that game on Kevin Youkilis ' sacrifice fly.
"He's done really, really well on back-to-back days that he pitches," Yost said of Broxton, who was among the five AL players in the All-Star final vote. "The thing that really impresses me about Brox is that no matter the trouble he gets in, he never gets flustered."
The Royals and White Sox are no strangers to close affairs at Kauffman Stadium, having gone to extra innings in seven of their previous 21 meetings.
This one appeared to be headed the same direction most of the night.
The White Sox struck first when Gordon Beckham , who scored the winning run in the series opener, walked in the third inning, and Alejandro De Aza's double gave Chicago a 1-0 lead.
Kansas City answered in the bottom half of the inning when Jarrod Dyson singled to right, stole second and scored on Alex Gordon 's single. Escobar followed with his third home run of the year, this one landing in the bullpen in left field and giving Kansas City a 3-1 lead.
"The pitch in the third to Escobar wasn't a bad pitch, but just the wrong pitch," Peavy said. "It was a ball that he got enough of to hit out of the ball park. Obviously, a big blow there."
The White Sox clawed back, though, just as they repeatedly did the previous night.
Dunn's homer leading off the sixth traveled an estimated 451 feet, clearing two different walls in center field - "I figured he hit it over the scoreboard," Royals starter Luke Hochevar said. Viciedo added a tying RBI triple off reliever Aaron Crow later in the inning.
The White Sox just couldn't get enough offense to counter the Royals' late surge.
Peavy wound up pitching into the eighth inning for Chicago, throwing 120 pitches along the way. He still ended up losing for the fifth time in six starts. Much of the onus for that falls on his offense, which has managed a total of nine runs of support over that span.
"He was good. Escobar got him a couple of times, those are the ones that got him," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "Other than that, he was in it. That's the way it goes."
NOTES: Cain came in as a pinch hitter after starting Friday night. He missed nearly half the season with a multitude of injuries. ... White Sox manager Robin Ventura said Dylan Axelrod and Phil Humber will start against Boston, though he hasn't decided on the order for Tuesday and Wednesday. ... LHP Chris Sale will start the series finale Sunday for the White Sox. RHP Luis Mendoza will take the mound for Kansas City.
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Chicago White Sox