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CLAY BUCHHOLZ |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Clay Buchholz improves to
7-0 with seven strong innings
May 22, 2013 ...
Clay Buchholz continues to motor right along, giving the Red Sox one dominant performance after another. The one he delivered tonight could not have come at a better time. After losing the first two games to the White Sox, the last thing Boston wanted to do was end an otherwise
successful road trip by getting swept.
Buchholz, who is 7-0 in 10 starts, didn't let that happen. Instead, he fired seven strong innings to lead his team to a 6-2 victory that completed a 6-3 road trip. In fact, Buchholz is currently one of the best in the game. In this one, he gave up five
hits and a run, walking three and striking out four. He lowered his American League-leading ERA to 1.73 and threw 113 pitches, 71 for strikes.
This was a night the Red Sox needed Buchholz to be at or near his best. For most of the night, Chicago's pitching held down the Boston bats. Leading 2-1 after seven, Boston added insurance runs in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Will Middlebrooks and a
passed ball from White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers. The bullpen took it from there. That created a stress-free return to action for closer Andrew Bailey, who worked around a homer by Paul Konerko in the ninth in his first appearance for the Red Sox since
April 28.
In another positive development for the Red Sox, slumping leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury belted two hits and was on base four times. It was his first multi-hit game since May 4th. And for the first time in the series, the Red Sox got some early offense. After
Jonny Gomes was hit by a pitch and Dustin Pedroia lofted a double to left, David Ortiz came through with a two-run single that gave Boston a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. In the most unexpected way imaginable, Ortiz made something else happen later in
the inning when he stole third for the first time in his career. It was the 12th stolen base of Ortiz's career and just the second since 2008.
The White Sox came close to tying it in the fifth. With De Aza on first and two outs, Ramirez belted one to deep left. Ellsbury got a tremendous jump on the ball and raced to the wall to make a fine catch.
Once again, however, the story of the night for the Red Sox was Buchholz.
Ryan Dempster flew back to Boston to get a full night of sleep in advance of his start on Thursday. Dempster threw 127 pitches against the Twins last Saturday and decided to skip his usual bullpen session Tuesday in favor of making some throws from flat
ground. |
