You can call Buchholz Mega Millions by Jared Carrabis
because that's a lot of zeros


18 hits on Thursday, 16 hits on Friday, and that's not even the high point.

Clay Buchholz entered Friday night's series opener against the Orioles having hurled nine scoreless frames. After carving through Baltimore's lineup, he would have nine more.

In his four starts prior to Friday, Buchholz was 4-0 with a 1.32 ERA, while opponents were hitting just .194 against the right-hander. By night's end, Buchholz's scoreless-inning streak had reached 18 innings, as the right-hander continued to plead his case for some All Star innings.

For Buchholz, it was his second career complete game shutout. You may remember his first -- a no-hitter against the very same team that he blanked on Friday.

His complete game effort gave him his team-best eighth win, as Buchholz lowered his ERA from 2.79 to 2.39 -- also a team best.

I guess the Red Sox' offense also deserves some praise.

After banging out 18 hits in a losing effort against Oakland on Thursday, the Boston bats came out and tagged the Orioles' pitching staff for 16 more hits and 11 runs. The Red Sox were 5-for-16 with runners in scoring position, and of their 11 runs, five were driven in with two outs.

A two-run double by JD Drew in the first inning had the Red Sox out in front by a 3-0 score, and they never looked back.

Kevin Youkilis blasted a three-run bomb into the left field corner that was estimated to be around 420 feet to extend Boston's lead to 7-0.

Just an inning later, Adrian Beltre chimed in with one of his specialties -- crushing a solo shot with one knee to the dirt. The homer for Beltre was his seventh, as his 2-for-5 night kept his average at a better-than-expected .333 mark.

That second hit for Beltre was a rocket of a double that one-hopped the wall in left-center to drive in Victor Martinez, who was 3-for-4 with a walk. Martinez, who was hitting .227 on May 18, is now up to .294 after his three-hit night.

Just an inning before, Marco Scutaro hammered a solo shot to left, which was his fourth homer of the season, but his second in the last two games.

Every starter aside from David Ortiz, who was 0-for-4, had at least one hit during the Red Sox' 16-hit attack.

On a side note, Jeremy Hermida left Friday night's game after colliding with Beltre on a fly ball to shallow left. His injury is being called a contusion to his left forearm, which is smart talk for "just a bruise." We suspect he'll be day-to-day. If he lands on the disabled list, Josh Reddick is a prime suspect to get the call to the big club.

Final score: Red Sox 11, Orioles 0
WP: Clay Buchholz (8-3)
LP: Chris Tillman (0-1)

Game notes: SoxSpace reader, Michael Varnam, points out that Clay Buchholz became the first Red Sox pitcher to win nine consecutive road starts. Buchholz improved to 5-0 in his last five starts with a Jimenez-like 0.99 ERA.

To order Jared's debut book, One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, click HERE!





Published on June 04, 2010

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