8-mazing pitching performance

If things didn’t seem bad enough for the Boston Red Sox, Clay Buchholz took a turn on the base paths and left the game with a hyper-extended knee in the top of the 2nd inning.

But when it was all said and done, somehow, someway, the bullpen pulled it all together and the Red Sox came out on top with a 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.

Eight different pitchers combined for the ‘W,’ but in the books Scott Atchinson got credit and was on the mound for longest going two and a third.

Ramon Ramirez, Manny Delcarmen, Dustin Richardson, Hideki Okajima, Daniel Bard, and Jonathan Papelbon were the other six.

The craziness of this game?

John Lackey flipping pinch hit for Ramon Ramirez.

Say what?

Mike Cameron made an unbelievable grab in center field to save Bard in the bottom of the 8th inning by landing on his back, dust flying everywhere, and barely hanging on to the baseball.

If the Sox didn’t win this game after that play, um, not quite sure how to explain that one.

Beat, battered, bruised; Surviving!?

How in the world did the Red Sox manage to climb out of the thick of the American League East, become in contention, have the third best record in the MLB, and continue to compete with the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays?

The entire club seems to be injury prone. Once a player comes back from the disabled list, another goes on. Or multiple players go on it.

Here’s the 2010 DL list

Josh Beckett
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Jacoby Ellsbury
Jeremy Hermida
Mike Cameron
Tim Wakefield
J.D. Drew
And the newest addition as of tonight:
Dustin Pedroia

Nnnnnnnoooooooooo!!!

Pray that Buchholz isn’t next.

Welcome to the laser show

And literally the next game after busting out three home runs to lift the Red Sox to a dramatic 13-11 win in the rubber game of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies, Pedroia fractures from navicular bone on his left foot.

The little guy has a hell of a lot of power and heart, but unfortunately still is a human being that can break and fracture bones and not heal them at the speed of light.

It’s another big blow to a team that’s already hurting. The All-Star Break can’t come soon enough.

Amanda Bruno is a freelance sportswriter for The Springfield Republican. She also writes over at Batter-up with Bruno where she shares her thoughts about the Boston Red Sox and the Boston sports media. You can follow her on Twitter @batterupbruno and can reach Amanda through email at brunosportshawk[at]gmail.com.