Can't spell Clay without Cy by Jared Carrabis
Clay Buchholz named AL Pitcher of the Month for August


For the second time this season, a Red Sox pitcher has been named the American League Pitcher of the Month.

If you took a glance at each of the annual salaries for each starting pitcher on the Red Sox' staff, you might be quick to assume that the two pitchers who earned the honor of A.L. Pitcher of the Month might be Josh Beckett and John Lackey.

However, two of the lowest-paid pitchers in the rotation have transcended the theory that big-money players are the "best" players.

With Jon Lester taking home the honors for the month of May, Clay Buchholz was crowned the A.L. Pitcher of the Month for the month of August after going 4-0 with a 1.03 ERA.

Opponents hit just .195 against Buchholz for the month, and the right-hander allowed five earned runs in all of August, which is just one night's work for Lackey and Beckett.

Buchholz's month of dominance included a streak of 26.2 scoreless innings, spanning three consecutive starts without allowing an earned run, which is the second longest in Red Sox history to Pedro Martinez who hurled 35 scoreless innings in 2002.

Speaking of Pedro, the last time two Red Sox starters were named the AL Pitcher of the Month in the same season was in 2002, when Derek Lowe, following his April 22 no-hitter, and Pedro Martinez's 5-0 month of July with an ERA of 0.64, striking out an eye-popping 59 batters in 42.1 innings.

-Jared Carrabis

Published on September 02, 2010

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