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CLAY BUCHHOLZ |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Buchholz's gem is backed by five
Red Sox home runs
May 1, 2013 ...
It's hard to pitch any better than Clay Buchholz has to start the season. Buchholz improved to 6-0 by throwing seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball, while Mike Napoli crushed two of the Red Sox's five homers in a lopsided 10-1 victory over the Blue Jays in
front of 21,094 at Rogers Centre tonight.
The 28-year-old Buchholz has not just beaten the opposition this year, he has dominated it. Buchholz, the first pitcher in baseball to six wins this season, has gone seven-plus innings in each of his six starts and has punched out at least six -- hitting double
digits twice -- in five of them. He has not allowed more than two runs in any outing and struck out 47 while walking 16. All of his outings have been quality starts, while his 44 2/3 innings are tops in baseball, and his 1.01 ERA is pacing the American League.
Dominating the Blue Jays on their home turf is nothing new for Buchholz. He improved to 7-2 lifetime with a 1.49 ERA at Rogers Centre, which is the best mark among pitchers who have thrown at least 55 innings at Toronto's park. His full arsenal was on display
against Toronto, which Ross said was fun to catch. The backstop said Buchholz can command all of his offerings to both sides of the plate and shows no fear throwing any pitch to any batter at any point in the game. Until Melky Cabrera hit a single off Buchholz in the eighth, the
only hit he had allowed was a third-inning single to Munenori Kawasaki.
Buchholz got the majority of his help in the form of the long ball, starting with a second-inning homer by Stephen Drew, a two-run shot off Blue Jays starter Mark Buehrle. Drew's first homer with Boston put the club ahead, 2-0. Then in the fourth, Mike
Napoli and Daniel Nava hit back-to-back shots, the fourth time the Red Sox have done so this season, to go up, 4-0. Napoli, however, wasn't done just yet. After the Red Sox chased Buehrle from the contest, Napoli victimized another Blue Jays pitcher. The first baseman
connected on a 95-mph fastball off reliever Esmil Rogers and sent it deep into the upper deck in center field for a three-run shot, giving Boston an 8-0 lead. It was the 11th multi-homer game of Napoli's career and his sixth long ball of the season. Napoli leads the Majors with 21
extra-base hits and 31 RBIs.
Buehrle, who lasted 6 2/3 innings, allowed five runs on seven hits while walking three. The lefty fell to 1-2 and saw his ERA rise to 6.43
Joel Hanra-han returned to the Red Sox Tuesday when he was activated off the disabled list. But his old job was not waiting for him. The Sox will stick with Andrew Bailey as their closer. Hanrahan got the news when he met with manager John Farrell before a 9-7
loss against the Blue Jays. Shane Victorino took batting practice in the cage, hitting balls off a tee, and did some light exercising. But he was not in the lineup for the fifth consecutive game because of a strained lower back and is unlikely to play in this series. |
