"Pretty high on any list of things the Royals didn't need Monday night was for Jake Peavy to find his form. So, yeah, guess what happened?

Peavy threw seven-plus shutout innings before the bullpen closed out Chicago's 5-1 victory over the Royals at U.S. Cellular Field.

How good was Peavy? The Royals found themselves groping for words.

"He was pretty good," designated hitter José Guillen said as he raised his hand to his head to offer a simulated tip of his cap.

"He was pretty good," catcher Jason Kendall said while moving his hand quickly down and away from his body to simulate the movement on a typical Peavy pitch.

"We ran into the wrong Peavy," manager Trey Hillman said. "You always hope to make better adjustments than we did tonight, but he had 6-to-8 inches (of break) on his two-seamer coming back.

"A lot of movement. Tough to square up. It's easier to take when it's a well-pitched ballgame, but it's never easy to take."

Peavy entered the game at 0-2 with a 7.85 ERA before silencing the Royals on four hits while striking out nine and walking one."