PEORIA, Ariz. -- National League Cy Young winner Jake Peavy was clubbed by the Los Angeles Angels in the first inning of an 8-4 Cactus League loss Tuesday, surrendering four runs and five hits.
To those in the crowd of 5,784, and in the raw box score, it no doubt appeared that Peavy was getting hammered.
Well, yes.
But this also was the textbook example of a pitcher taking time in the spring to work on a few things, which is why Peavy was very pleased afterward.
Mostly.
"I hate the fact that in spring training you get ambushed," he said.
Translation: The Angels had some young guys in their lineup who came out swinging more aggressively than usual in the first inning.
Being that Peavy's goal for the afternoon was to work on locating his fastball, it wasn't an optimal matchup for him. Because as he threw a steady stream of first-inning fastballs, Robb Quinlan, Erick Aybar, Kendry Morales, Jeff Mathis and Nathan Haynes made him pay for it.
So Peavy adjusted his strategy in the second and third innings -- and held the Angels hitless.
As he said, even though it's the spring, there comes a point when pride takes over. So after the rocky first inning, he mixed his breaking balls in, which didn't allow the Angels to sit on first-pitch fastballs, which transformed the game away from glorified batting practice. Peavy went from throwing and locating to pitching.
"There's just something in me," he said. "I just couldn't go to bed tonight without mixing in some breaking balls with those heaters to those young kids."
By the end of it, Peavy said, he "got a ton out of it." He threw 65 pitches. He threw all of his pitches. He worked some pickoff plays with Angels on the bases. And he worked on speeding up his delivery to home -- he was clocked in 1.1 seconds on a couple of occasions -- while attempting to give catcher Josh Bard a chance to throw out some would-be stealers.
Two summers ago, Peavy was as slow as 1.35 to the plate, and when he tried to speed it up, pitching coach Darren Balsley thought his arm suffered.
"I was rushing it, and my arm (slot) was down a little, and I wasn't feeling that good anyway," Peavy said of a summer in which he battled shoulder tendinitis.
Morales nailed an 0-and-2 "back foot breaking ball", Peavy said, a cutter. "That's the only time I tried to put somebody away and it didn't happen."
By the end of the outing, Peavy was smiling in the clubhouse and couldn't stop talking about what a perfect spring outing it was.
"I couldn't let some of those guys go to bed tonight thinking, 'Man, that Peavy was a little flat,'" he said.
The regular season soon will be here.
For now, this is pretty good.
Likes: San Diego manager Bud Black's sense of humor. He was downright giddy Tuesday morning before leaving for China. ... Terrific facility here in Peoria that the Padres and Mariners share. ... Mark DeRosa back playing with the Cubs. Thank goodness that heart episode was nipped in the bud. ... The Cactus League drives sure are easier than the Grapefruit League drives, with clubs more concentrated in two areas (mostly Phoenix, with three down in Tucson). ... The Italian Grotto in Old Scottsdale, a spring staple. ... The University of San Diego over Gonzaga the other night. USD's energy was impressive. ... Van Halen's Dance the Night Away on the stadium sound system.
Dislikes: Any chain restaurant/shopping outlet/fast food joint you've ever heard of or might want to visit, you can find it on Bell Rd. heading from I-17 in toward the Peoria Sports Complex. ... The wireless Internet access at the Peoria Sports Complex retricting access to any entertainment Web site.
Sunblock day? Yessir. Seventy-some degrees and sunny. A dry heat. A sunscreen with moisturizer badly needed.
Rock-n-Roll lyric of the day:
"Went home last night
"Heard a noise
"I asked my wife what was that
"Went home last night
"Heard a noise
"I asked my wife what was that
"She said, 'Man don't be so suspicious
"That ain't nothin' but a cat
-- Blind Boy Fuller, Cat Man Blues
