CHICAGO -- Jake Peavy has never been one to make excuses and Tuesday was no different. Despite the lack of run support he received in a 5-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals and despite the fact that this was far from his worst outing of the season, Peavy was only concerned about the bottom line.

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Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesJake Peavy, who owns a 3.08 ERA, is just 9-8 on the season due to a lack of run support during his starts.

“Losing is losing,” he said. “I got out-pitched.”

Peavy failed to win his third straight start on Tuesday as he was tagged for three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. He walked three, struck out four and had allowed just one hit over the first five innings.

“That first inning you’re looking at it and he bounces back like he normally does and gets it, but he deserved better,” manager Robin Ventura said. “You know, (Bruce) Chen just kept us off balance. I think we had chances. He just found a way to get out of them.”

Chen, who earned his first win since June 26, is now 3-0 with a 1.34 ERA over his last five starts at U.S. Cellular Field. He stymied the White Sox for a better part of the evening, at one point retiring nine straight batters.

Peavy, meanwhile, gave up a run off a sacrifice fly in the sixth and was done in by five straight hits that produced a pair of runs in the seventh. Peavy is 0-7 this season when the Sox score two runs or fewer. He entered the game with a 1.82 ERA over his last five home starts and 24 runs of support over his last 10 total starts.

“I don’t like to lose,” Peavy said. “I just hate to lose. I wish I could have done more to help us win, I really do. It stinks when you feel like you have a chance to win and you don’t. You get so close and you could have done things differently to win.”