For a couple of weeks we've been discussing how Clay Buchholz has been morphing into the ace of the Red Sox staff. Well, consider the transformation complete. In a must-win game (let's be honest, they're all must-win at this point), with the bullpen in desperate need of some rest, Clay told everybody, "Sit down. I got this."
Clay pitched a complete game 2-hitter with 6 K's and 0 walks; and it only took him 104 pitches to get the job done. Cleveland made the most of the runners they did get on base (with a little help from Avile's error), scoring 2 runs (only one earned). It's not often you see a team cross the plate twice in the midst of a 2-hitter with 0 walks, but it happened tonight. And if you're curious as to how well Clay has been pitching over the past couple months, on June first his ERA was at a 6.58. In 9 starts since, he's gotten in down to a respectable 4.24. That's impressive.
The Sox offense struggled to get runners home, as usual, but did enough to get the 'W'. Pedroia was the only batter to get multiple hits (he also had an RBI), but Ross' 2-run blast in the 6th (which scored Pedroia) was the knockout blow. Gonzalez went 0-4, leaving 4 men on base. I take back all those nice things I said about him earlier.
The Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians. Let's all rejoice while we try to figure out some way to get Buchholz to pitch every 2nd or 3rd game.
Original Story:
|
August 10, 2012
