Clay Buchholz ended up on the wrong side of a pitcher’s duel yesterday afternoon for the Boston Red Sox as Justin Verlander was throwing gas the entire game in the 2-0 win for the Detroit Tigers.
For Buchholz it was his best appearance in a Red Sox uniform this season and came down to one bad pitch. A pitch he left out over the plate to Ryan Raburn, who planted it into the Green Monster seats. Other than that pitch, Buchholz was outstanding. He had good command and location on all of his pitches.
It was the second straight outing for Buchholz where he didn’t receive any run support. We can only hope that doesn’t weigh on his mind in his next outing. He’s definitely showing the signs of why the Red Sox promoted him from Triple-A and will definitely be counted on down the stretch here in this pennant race the Red Sox are involved in.
One of those teams the Red Sox are in the pennant race with just happens to be their next opponent, the Texas Rangers.
Right now the Rangers sit just a ½ behind them in the wild card standings. Every game in this series is important because a loss or a win means a full one game swing in the standings. Ideally we all hope the Red Sox will sweep the Rangers but I’ll settle for taking two out of the three games.
The Rangers have taken 5-of-6 from the Red Sox this season already and would hold the tie-breaker advantage no matter what happens in this series. This is why these games are so important.
It won’t be easy though as tonight’s starter for the Rangers, Kevin Millwood, is 2-0 against them. The Red Sox counter with Jon Lester who has the only win of the season against the Rangers.
It should be a great weekend of baseball deep down in the heart of Texas.
Verlander dazzles Sox [Boston Globe]
It has become a card game [Boston Globe]
Seems like old times: Ortiz struggling again [Boston Globe]
Portland’s Nava no longer playing catch-up [Boston Globe]
Remy’s woes befall many after cancer [Boston Globe]
Red Sox hope to make statement in Texas [RedSox.com]
Verlander the latest elite pitcher to shut down Boston [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Buchholz has found success by becoming a ground-ball pitcher [Providence Journal]
Marlins interested in potential trade for Smoltz [Providence Journal]
Rangers series looms huge for Red Sox [Providence Journal]
Don’t blame the kid [Full Count]
The Big Friday Nuggetpalooza! [Nuggetpalooza]
Five Things We Learned: The Red Sox Faced Their Kryptonite [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Dazzling in Defeat, Buchholz Makes Major Strides [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
The Bradford Files: Wins, Not Votes, the Priority For Beckett [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]
Red Sox up as they head to Texas [Boston Herald]
Nationals eye Jed Hoyer [Boston Herald]
Clay Buchholz looks better and better [Boston Herald]
Tigers’ Justin Verlander clocks out at 100 mph [Boston Herald]
David Ortiz woes continue [Boston Herald]
Michael Bowden armed, ready to help pitch in [Boston Herald]
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and Providence Journal websites.
And if the enemy papers are more your flavor, you can check out the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press websites.
