Mr. Reliable by Jared Carrabis
Red Sox improve to 7-0 in Buchholz's last 7 starts


It's hard to believe that this time last year, Clay Buchholz had already been shipped away to Arizona to work on his mechanics, and most importantly, his confidence.

On Thursday night, there was no lack of confidence on Buchholz's behalf. Shooting for his seventh victory since being called up for the first time in '09 back on July 17, Buchholz was in command early and often.

The right-hander often shyed away from his fastball in 2008 after becoming a victim of the long ball more often than he'd like to be, but this season, Buchholz is going to his fastball more frequently, which makes his off-speed pitches more devastating to opposing hitters.

Buchholz struck out the side in the bottom of the second, and the way he did it was just a testament to how lethal his repertoire of pitches is. Mark Teahen looked at three straight strikes before being called out on a deadly hook, Miguel Olivo swung through an 82mph changeup for strike three and Alex Gordon punched out on a 4-seam fastball.

In all, Buchholz struck out eight batters through six-and-two-thirds innings. After 109 pitches, the right-hander departed after allowing zero earned runs on five hits, without walking a single batter.

"I feel good right now," said Buchholz. "I feel like the team as a whole is doing well and doing the little things we need to win a ballgame. That's all it does is build confidence when you've got everyone running at the same time."

Boston's offense was supplied early on by David Ortiz, who smashed home run number 26 on the season and his second in two nights. After four innings, the Red Sox were out in front by a 4-0 score.

In the top of the sixth, Dustin Pedroia ripped his 46th double into the gap in left-center to extend his hitting streak to a season-high 16 games. The double brought home Alex Gonzalez who singled to start the inning.

One of fiveRoyal errors in the top of the eighth helped bring home another run, as Boston put up a four-spot in the ninth to put the Sox into double-digits. Aided by a two-run double by Ortiz in the ninth, Boston delivered the dagger that earned a split in this four-game series.

Final Score: Red Sox 10, Royals 3

Friday's pitching match-up:

Well, here we go. After an 8-0 head start, the Red Sox lead the season series against the Yankees 9-6. As Boston packs their bags and heads to the Bronx to conclude their ten-game road trip before heading home for the final home stand of the season, Jon Lester aims to bring the Red Sox one step closer to a postseason berth. This will be Lester's fourth time squaring off against the Yankees this season, and in his first three starts, the left-hander is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA. His opponent, Joba Chamberlain, who has pitched awful as of late. This season, the fat mess is 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA against Boston in three starts.

Eye on the scoreboard:

Rangers 3, Athletics 12
Yankees - Off

Result: The Red Sox had lowered their magic number on Thursday night before they even took the field. The Texas Rangers continue to fade into the sunset, towards the golf courses, as Boston's magic number to clinch a postseason spot dwindled down to three. With the Yankees having an off-day, Boston now trails the division by 5.5 games. Certainly the division isn't realistic at this point, but Boston can still clinch a postseason spot this weekend in the Bronx.

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Published on September 25, 2009

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