Clay Buchholz has been one of the best stories so far of this up and down 2010 Red Sox season. Following in his teammate and fellow Sox farmhand Jon Lester's footsteps, Buchholz is having a breakout year. He has pitched back-to-back shutouts and last night against Baltimore, he went the distance, throwing his first complete game shutout since his 2007 no-hitter. He's exciting to watch. I'm certainly glad the Red Sox stuck with him and didn't trade him away, even though in the past I questioned his ability to get past the psychological roadblocks that lead to him looking snakebitten when pitching from the stretch.
After last night's gem, Buch lowered his ERA to 2.39, good for second in the AL behind Tampa Bay's David Price and tied with Price for most wins in the AL. Could he make an appearance in the all-star game or even make a bid for the Cy? He'll have some pretty fierce competition in the league, including his teammate Jon Lester, but if he keeps up his stellar work on the hill, he has a chance.
The bats enjoyed some in-game BP courtesy of the O's pitching staff in the 11-0 laugher. Rookie starter Chris Tillman only went an inning and a third before getting pulled for long reliever Mark Hendrickson. The hits and runs kept on coming for the Red Sox, on a night following the O's axing of their skipper Dave Trembley. Third base coach Juan Samuel took over as interim manager. Youk, Beltre, and Scoots went yard, Youk for 3 runs, Beltre on one knee, and Scoots for the second game in a row.
In addition to his kneeling dinger last night, Beltre was part of an uncomfortable deja vu experience for the Red Sox. While chasing a foul popup in left field, he collided with Hermida, took a tumble, and, amazingly, held onto the ball for the out as Jacoby Ellsbury (probably) shook his head in the dugout. Hermida left the game with a bruised forearm and is day-to-day. Fortunately, the injury seems to be less severe than the one that has kept Ells on the shelf for most of the season.
Tonight, Lester takes on Guthrie and the Sox hope to continue to take advantage of the O's state of disarray.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
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