Peavy might be able to pitch a little

DETROIT – Believe the hype.

Jake Peavy was dominant in eight shutout innings of work, allowing just two hits in the 8-0 win on Friday. And the rub? He said afterward he still wasn’t 100 percent.

Making his third, and final, start of the year, Peavy, acquired from San Diego in a trade-deadline deal, showed no signs of the ankle injury and then the bruised elbow that kept him on the shelf until Aug. 19.

While his Sox showing has been a brief one, it has been an eye-opener, with the former Cy Young Award winner winning all three games he started, allowing three runs in 20 innings of work for a 1.35 ERA.

So much for the NL pitchers can’t dominate in the AL theory.

“I think it’s big for the organization and fans,” Peavy said of his final outing. “I owed it to [GM Kenny Williams] for getting me over here and the fans, just them seeing my face, get out there and get familiar. It’s nice to go into the winter with a couple wins and let’s get it on next year.”

He also finished with five strikeouts and two walks, to go with a whole lot of confidence.

“I certainly would have loved to make more starts than three, but it was a battle, it was a grind to even get where we’re at today,” Peavy added. “I’m happy to be back out there, happy the fans can relate next year that we’re coming in expecting big things – from myself, Johnny [Danks], Gavin [Floyd], and hopefully Mark [Buehrle] does what he’s done his entire career. We’re going to run some pretty good guys out there at you.”