Left-hander John Danks left his start Saturday against the Nationals in the second inning with a strained left oblique, and with the White Sox bullpen already tired, manager Ozzie Guillen was forced to turn to Jake Peavy in relief.
For Peavy, it was the first career relief appearance after 238 major league starts with the Padres and White Sox. He’s working on two days’ rest after coming off the DL and giving up three runs in 5 1/3 innings on Wednesday.
As of this writing, he’s working in the seventh inning having already thrown three scoreless innings and struck out five.
Danks was running to back up third base on a flyball when he was injured in the second. The White Sox had Brian Bruney take over then and pitch the third, but they didn’t think they could get through the rest of the game using strictly relievers. They’re short-handed in the pen because of the current six-man rotation.
That will likely change on Sunday, though. Danks seems sure to land on the disabled list, putting the rotation back at five. The White Sox will call up a reliever to replace him on the roster.
Update: Peavy ended up throwing four scoreless innings and picking up the win in relief. He allowed only one hit and struck out seven in the 55-pitch outing. If one day was any indication, he would have just fine in the closer’s role had the White Sox opted to take him up on it.