On Baseball Tonight last night, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said that Clay Buchholz had no-hit stuff against the Tampa Bay Rays. Unfortunately for Buchholz, his back acted up early and affected his performance once again.
Luckily though for Buchholz, the offense staked him to an early lead and the Red Sox bullpen helped him out as they picked up a 4-2 win to close out the road trip at 8-1. And remember folks, that nine-game road trip the Red Sox just partook in was against AL East teams.
The lead for the Red Sox in the AL East is 1.5 games over the New York Yankees and now 5.5 games over the Rays.
Now I’m not sure I agree with Schilling’s assessment but then again I am no baseball expert. From what I saw, he was able to make use of all his pitches. But you could tell his back was bothering him from about the second inning on. And the reason you could tell is the fact that he slowed down.
Normally Buchholz works at a pretty quick pace on the mound. But when his back stiffens up, he slows to a crawl and tries to work through. And what happens then is he tries to overcompensate. And that right there is not something you want to see because that can lead to further trouble possibly in your elbow or shoulder. That would be something that Buchholz and the Red Sox would like to avoid.
Whether or not Buchholz goes on the DL remains to be seen. But it might be wise for him to go on it just to get his back ready for the grind of the rest of the season.
The bullpen hasn’t had to be used as much in tight situations due to the offensive explosion over the course of the road trip. They outscored their opponents 90-42. But they came through when needed last night.
Alfredo Aceves took over for Buchholz, who went five innings and departed after 81 pitches. Aceves pitched well in 1 2/3 innings allowing a home run to Casey Kotchman that cut the lead to 3-2. Daniel Bard took over for Aceves and went 1 1/3 innings of perfect relief only needing 15 pitches.
Jonathan Papelbon did make it interesting though in the 9th. He allowed the first two batters to reach base on a double and an infield single. But he settled down by striking out the final two batters he faced to notch his 13th save of 2011.
Offensively, the Red Sox did their damage against David Price in the first two innings when he struggled. Of course Price’s struggles didn’t help Buchholz out health wise.
In the first inning, Dustin Pedroia reached on a one out walk. He quickly went to third base on an Adrian Gonzalez double. Price then hit Kevin Youkilis in the shoulder to load up the bases. It remains to be seen whether or not Price hit Youk on purpose but Youk did have some words for him going down to first base. Price’s struggled continued as he walked David Ortiz to force in the first run of the game.
The Red Sox got two more runs in the second that started when Jarrod Saltalamacchia doubled with one out. Darnell McDonald, who started the game for Jacoby Ellsbury, singled in Salty and ended up on second on the throw home. He wouldn’t be there long as Pedroia doubled to push the Red Sox lead to 3-0.
Gonzalez would give the Red Sox an insurance run in the 9th when he did his own version of the Laser Show putting one into the right field seats.
Interleague play now starts up for the Red Sox and after these next six games against the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres things will get interesting. In having two of the hottest hitters in the game right now in Big Papi and Gonzo, Terry Francona will have some interesting decisions to make. It’s not like last year where both Youk and Mike Lowell could both play first and third getting both of their bats in the lineup or having Big Papi play first.
If you take Gonzo out of the lineup, you lose something. If you take Big Papi out of the lineup, you lose something as well. But let’s cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, it’s a three-game set with the NL Central-leading Brewers to worry about.
We’ll be back later with tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. But for now, enjoy the overnight links by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
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Few bumps in road for Sox [Boston Globe]
Messages are loud, clear [Boston Globe]
Switch to night game gives champs their day [Boston Globe]
Lavarnway swings into action with Pawtucket [Boston Globe]
Red Sox tour de force [Boston Herald]
Jed Lowrie faces a DL stint [Boston Herald]
While Bruins cop Cup, Beckett brilliant in win [Boston Herald]
Darnell McDonald back in swing [Boston Herald]
Jonathan Papelbon’s appeal of suspension may be heard today [Clubhouse Insider]
Sox finish road trip strong in Tampa [CSNNE.com]
Notes: Buchholz (back), Lowrie (shoulder) exit early [CSNNE.com]
Lowrie’s shoulder woes persist; DL looms [ESPN Boston]
Rapid reaction: Red Sox 4, Rays 2 [ESPN Boston]
Price hits Youkilis, Rays pay price [ESPN Boston]
Buchholz hopes to avoid DL stint [ESPN Boston]
Sox face annual interleague dilemma [ESPN Boston]
Andrew Miller on pitching in majors: ‘I like my chances’ [Full Count]
Closing Time: Red Sox beat Rays to finish off road trip in style [Full Count]
How Cole helped make Spinners pitcher McCarthy’s future on the diamond [Full Count]
Loss of AL East, Division Format Could Sap Interest Surrounding Red Sox [NESN.com]
Clay Buchholz Leaves Start in Tampa Bay With Lower Back Tightness, Hopes to Avoid Disabled List [NESN.com]
Video: Clay Buchholz Continues to Battle Back Stiffness, Still Earns Win Over Rays [NESN.com]
Red Sox Showcase Dominance in All Areas on Remarkable Road Trip [NESN.com]
Buchholz, Sox have just enough [Providence Journal]
Buchhholz hopes he can avoid DL stint [Providence Journal]
Minor-league demotion forces players to refocus [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Ellsbury finally sits one out [Providence Journal]
Welcome back, Sox fans! What you might have missed while watching the Bruins [Providence Journal]
Five things we learned about the Red Sox after a dominating road trip [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSNNE, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, head over the to St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune websites.
Photo credit: Getty Images
