White Sox’s Jake Peavy impresses even the opposition

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Although Angel Manager Mike Scioscia was most concerned with the comeback bid of Scott Kazmir, his starting pitcher Friday, he couldn’t help but notice how well the White Sox’s Jake Peavy threw in Chicago’s 3-1 Cactus League loss in Tempe, Ariz.

‘Peavy looked great,’ Scioscia said. ‘He was finishing his pitches. That was impressive. These guys were saying they didn’t expect that.’

‘These guys’ would be White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen and his coaching staff.

That’s because Peavy had surgery in July for a detached latissimus dorsi muscle, a procedure no baseball player has ever come back from. Friday the right-hander faced the minimum six batters in two innings, giving up a walk but erasing that runner on a double play.

That got Kazmir’s attention too.

‘It’s no surprise to me he’s out there, doing what he’s doing,’ Kazmir said. ‘He’s a hard worker, a guy who will go out and challenge you no matter how he feels. He wasn’t going to throw in the towel.’

Peavy, a former Cy Young Award winner, tore his shoulder pitching against the Angels in July and hadn’t thrown again in a game until Friday. Using a modified delivery that puts less strain on his right arm, Peavy threw 26 pitches, striking out Maicer Izturis to start the first and Vernon Wells leading off the second.

-- Kevin Baxter in Tempe, Ariz.