Due to the fact that I overslept the morning news & notes post will be combined with the afternoon lineup post.
Last night at Fenway Park, we saw Clay Buchholz grow up as pitcher. He was coming off of a terrible outing in his last start and there had been questions about whether or not he was a big league pitcher.
With his effort last night, he answered those questions as he dominated the Toronto Blue Jays for the third time this season in a 3-2 win. Clay’s stuff was downright nasty last night, especially his changeup and slider. He was able to use them effectively in striking out 9 Blue Jays in 8 1/3 innings. Ironically enough, all three of his wins this season have come against the Blue Jays.
While Hideki Okajima allowed both hitters he faced to reach and subsequently the only run Buchholz would allow, Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon came in and was drama-free for the first time in a while as he needed just five pitches to retire the final two batters of the game.
The win for the Red Sox last night allowed them to maintain their 2.5 game lead over the Texas Rangers and 4.5 game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild card. They also stay 6 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East standings.
Before yesterday’s game we learned that Tim Wakefield would be bumped from his start on Tuesday against the Rays with soreness in his back again. Today’s original starter, Jon Lester, was bumped back and will take Wake’s start on Tuesday night.
The Red Sox also sent Junichi Tazawa to the Gulf Coast Red Sox to clear up a roster spot for Marcus McBeth.
With Lester going in Tuesday’s game, the Red Sox needed a starter for this afternoon’s game and they have called up Paul Byrd from Triple-A Pawtucket. McBeth was sent back to Pawtucket after the game to make room for Byrd on the 25-man and 40-man rosters.
The game this afternoon will start at 1:35 PM EDT, and will be televised in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Blue Jays television market, you can catch the game on Rogers SportsNet. And if the television isn’t your cup of tea, you can catch the game on one of the many affiliates of the Red Sox Radio Network.
This is the first start of 2009 for Byrd after coming out of semi-retirement. He made 8 starts for the Red Sox last season after coming over from the Cleveland Indians and was 4-2 with a 4.78 ERA. He has made 11 career starts against the Jays and is 5-5 with a 3.86 ERA.
Roy Halladay starts for Cito Gaston this afternoon and he has struggled as of late. He’s made twenty-five starts this season and is 13-7 with a 3.03 ERA. He’s made two starts against the Red Sox this season and is 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA. Halladay has appeared in 39 games (36 starts) against the Red Sox in his career and is 13-13 with a 4.39 ERA. He’s made 18 career starts at Fenway Park where he is 5-8 with a 4.29 ERA.
Lineups and links can be found after the jump.
Ironically enough, all three of Buchholz’ wins (3-3) this season are over the Blue Jays. His stuff was just downright nasty. His changeup and slider were really working for him as he kept fooling the Blue Jays hitters. He allowed just three hits (should have been only two) and a run while striking out nine and walking two.
58-68
74-54