It was like right-hander Jake Peavy made two starts for the San Francisco Giants at Comerica Park on Friday night. The "first" start lasted three innings, and was interrupted by a rain delay. Peavy's "second" start, which lasted another three innings, began 2 hours, 56 minutes after he threw his final pitch of the third.*
Overall, Peavy allowed two unearned runs and six hits over six innings to help the Giants beat the Detroit Tigers 8-2. San Francisco stayed 2 1/2 games ahead in the National League wild card race and two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
The most compelling part of San Francisco's victory was manager Bruce Bochy's decision to bring back Peavy at all following the rain. There's no set amount of time it's "safe" to bring back a pitcher after a rain delay, but usually if it's much longer than an hour, a manager will turn to his bullpen. Sometimes, it doesn't even take that long*for a manager to give a guy the hook.
Not in Peavy's case.
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Bochy said Peavy was adamant that he would be fine, said he was relentless with push and preparation. Peavy: "Tonight was a big one."
— Alex Pavlovic (@AlexPavlovic) September 6, 2014
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Yeah, but nobody "prepares" for a three-hour rain delay. Peavy*had thrown 31 pitches through three innings — not a particularly arduous amount. But a pitcher's body, and even his mind, typically loses its "readiness" after a certain amount of time, it has been said. It's why pitchers wear jackets between innings — to keep warm — and why long innings at-bat by his own team sometimes negatively affect performance later in the game. It's all kind of an inexact science. Most of the time, it simply depends on how the pitcher feels. Evidently, Peavy felt great. He thanked the Giants athletic training staff for "keeping the body loose."
It's just that waiting three hours is something modern pitchers don't usually do. Cy Young probably waited through a three-hour rain delay. Old Hoss Radbourn, too. But anymore?
Bochy said yes.
“He was so adamant that he was good to go,” Bochy said. “I think it would have crushed him not to go back out there. You just trust Jake. He was relentless. He was fighting and saying he was good to go.”
It turned out OK, because Peavy pitched exceptionally well, he doesn't appear to be hurt and the Giants won. But*the decision to keep going is curious for someone with Peavy's injury history. Bochy definitely was taking a risk. Peavy has a 2.36 ERA in eight starts with the Giants, and has allowed one earned run over his past three outings. He's on a roll in every way.
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David Brown is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter!
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