Southpaw sends Dunn to bench
OAKLAND, Calif. — Adam Dunn, 1-for-18 against lefties, was given the night off Tuesday against Athletics left-hander Tommy Milone.
Milone was a doubleedged sword for Dunn, who never had seen or heard of him. Facing a lot of pitchers he never had faced last year was one of many factors that contributed to his forgettable season.
Dunn was batting .333 with four home runs and 11 RBI against right-handed pitchers. He has three RBI against lefties but 10 strikeouts.
“Obviously I’m doing something against them that’s not working,’’ Dunn said. “I feel fine in the box, but when I do get a pitch to hit, I miss it. Probably pulling off a little bit against the lefty.’’
Brent Lillibridge played first base while Paul Konerko, still showing a slight limp from a sore right foot, was the designated hitter.
Peavy feeling it
Bullpen coach Juan Nieves marveled at Jake Peavy’s “great feel” for pitching after the righthander’s three-hit shutout Monday against the A’s. It doesn’t mean that Peavy, who threw his fastball around 90-91, is a finesse pitcher, even though he doesn’t have the mid-90s fastball he once possessed.
“Feel is two things,’’ Peavy said Tuesday. “It’s having a sense of being able to feel your way around pitches, working with what you’ve got. Feel is also a feel of the game, what you need to do. Everybody tries to have that. I guess it’s a compliment. I guess I’m a pitcher.’’
Peavy (3-0, 1.88 ERA) has allowed nine hits in his last three starts.
There are power pitchers, such as Justin Verlander, who have a great feel for pitching. “Felix Hernandez, he has it,’’ Peavy said. “It’s acquired.’’
Peavy threw 107 pitches Monday and had to labor through the last inning after sitting through a lengthy Sox ninth that caused him to stiffen up a bit. He threw long toss at 150 feet Tuesday, another good sign in his recovery process from his detached lat. He did, however, skip his bullpen session last week, although he threw under pitching coach Don Cooper’s watch. So he’s still feeling his way through his recovery.
“I’m not giving up on completely coming all the way back,’’ Peavy said.
Not now
General manager Ken Williams steered clear of discussing the possibility of offering contract extensions to pre-arbitration players such as Philip Humber and Chris Sale.
“The only thing we are focusing on is our focus,” Williams said. “That means keeping distractions of any sort to a minimum. I would consider that right now a distraction.’’
Asked if the Sox will be in a position to add if they’re in contention in July, Williams had a similar response.
Notes
Sox pitchers led the American League in opponents average (.213), complete games (two) and strikeout-to-walk ratio and were second in ERA (2.96) and strikeouts (143) through Monday.
Humber, who would have flown back to Chicago on Wednesday, a day in advance of his start Thursday against the Red Sox at U.S. Cellular Field, was given permission to go home a day early. His wife is expecting their first child May 8.