MLB Team Report – Boston Red Sox – INSIDE PITCH
Clay Buchholz is becoming the Red Sox’s only sure thing.
Since the middle of May, Buchholz has been the Sox’s best pitcher, to say nothing of one of the elite starters in the American League. And over the past month, as Josh Beckett and Jon Lester have continued to falter, Buchholz has been nearly unhittable.
It was more of the same Friday night. Seeking to snap a three-game skid, the Red Sox gave the ball to Buchholz, and the rail-thin right-hander spun a 104-pitch, complete-game gem in a 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on a chilly, wet night at Progressive Field.
“That was just what the doctor ordered,” manager Bobby Valentine said. “He was terrific.”
Buchholz has been this good for five starts, during which he has allowed only five earned runs in 39 innings for a 1.15 ERA. This time, he allowed only two hits, both by Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and retired the final 12 batters after Jason Donald reached on an error to open the seventh inning.
“That’s probably as good as he’s been all year,” said Cody Ross, whose two-run homer in the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie and provided the winning margin. “He’s really turned it around and pitched his butt off. He was outstanding.”
It marks a dramatic improvement after a dreadful April. Through six starts, Buchholz had a 9.09 ERA. But he rediscovered his signature changeup, developed a hybrid splitter-changeup and regained his confidence. Since May 11, he has a 2.80 ERA in 13 starts.
“I knew that some of the pitches that were getting hit usually don’t get hit,” Buchholz said. “If you don’t have a little bit of luck on your side every now and then, it’s tough to make it work out for yourself. Everything feels good. It’s fun to go out and compete right now.”
But Buchholz can only pitch every fifth day. Without similar performances from the other starters, namely Beckett and Lester, the Red Sox can’t go on the extended winning streak required to make a surge for the wild card.
“I’ll stand here and say it again: We have a ton of confidence in all of our pitchers,” outfielder Cody Ross said. “Hopefully guys watching Clay can get on that roll.”
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MLB Team Report – Boston Red Sox – NOTES, QUOTES
–3B Will Middlebrooks was headed for X-rays Friday night after being hit on the right wrist by a fastball from Cleveland Indians reliever Esmil Rogers in the ninth inning of the Red Sox’s 3-2 victory. Early indications, according to Bobby Valentine, weren’t positive. “He got hit pretty good in a bad place,” Valentine said. “He’s going for X-rays. I doubt that he’s in there (Saturday night), and I hope it’s only a day. Doubtful of that. He was in a lot of pain and it was in a bad spot. I was hoping it was going to be more down on the meat, and it was just straight on the bone.”
–OF Cody Ross hit another clutch home run Friday night, a two-run shot to make the difference in the Red Sox’s 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Eight of Ross’ 18 homers this season have either tied the game or put the Red Sox ahead. Only two of them have come with the Red Sox leading or trailing by more than three runs, which is to say he has made them count. “That’s what it’s all about,” Ross said. “The garbage homers are good for the stats, but when it truly counts is when the game is on the line, or you have a chance to put your team up and give them a boost. That’s more gratifying than hitting a grand slam when you’re down 12 or up eight. Definitely a good feeling.”
–LHP Felix Doubront will be skipped for at least one turn in the Red Sox rotation. Having already soared past his innings total from last season, and rapidly approaching his single-season career high, Doubront will be given extra rest and replaced by RHP Aaron Cook. “I think, right now, that a little blow for Felix is going to be what the doctor ordered,” manager Bobby Valentine said before the Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2, last night. “Take a deep breath, maybe do a little more leg work, do a little less throwing. I think he’ll have that other gear that we saw him have earlier in the year.” Doubront is 10-6 with a 4.70 ERA in 22 starts. But he has lasted no more than five innings and given up at least four runs in three of his last four starts. On Thursday night, he yielded four runs in only 4 1/3 innings of a 5-3 loss to the Indians, and by his own admission, he lacked command of his signature two-seam fastball. Doubront has logged 122-2/3 innings, a sizable jump from last season’s injury-interrupted total of 87 2/3, only 10 1/3 of which came in the majors. His career high for a single season is 129 1/3 innings, and that was back in 2008 at the Single-A level.
–RHP John Lackey has chosen to stay with the Red Sox through most of his season-long rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery, even making road trips with the team. But that isn’t particularly unusual. According to Article XIII, section H of the new collective bargaining agreement, negotiated jointly between Major League Baseball and the players’ union, a team can’t keep an injured player at its spring training facility during the regular season for more than a 20-day period without the player’s written consent. The Boston Herald reported that Lackey has opted to stay with the Red Sox because he wants to work out under the supervision of the major league medical staff, including rehab coordinator Mike Reinold, who is well-respected by the pitching staff. There isn’t any indication the Red Sox wanted Lackey to stay in Fort Myers, but even if they did, they would have needed his approval.
–OF Scott Podsednik re-signed with the Red Sox after being traded 10 days earlier to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Following the trade, Podsednik refused an assignment to Triple-A, forcing his release, and signed with the Red Sox as a free agent. “It was a no-brainer,” Podsednik said. “A guy in my position, being (a) free (agent) in the middle of August, I don’t have a lot of options. First and foremost, just an opportunity to play at this level is what I was looking for, but I can’t be that picky.” Podsednik, 36, batted .387 in 19 games with the Red Sox before going on the disabled list with a groin strain. He will serve as the fourth outfielder, an area of need with Ryan Sweeney likely out for the duration of the season with a broken left hand and Daniel Nava on the disabled list with a sprained left wrist. To open a roster spot for Podsednik, the Red Sox optioned OF Ryan Kalish to Triple-A Pawtucket. Kalish was batting .203 with only three hits in his last 19 at-bats.
BY THE NUMBERS: 10 — Victories in 18 one-run games on the road for the Red Sox.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “That’s beer right there. If you came in here, you would have seen a pretty heaping pile of empty bottles by the time I left. And I dare say there were a whole bunch of games this year at home that I would have liked to have the ability to make a big pile.” — Manager Bobby Valentine, discussing the Red Sox’s policy of banning alcohol after games at Fenway Park. The policy does not prohibit players from drinking beer in the clubhouse on the road.
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MLB Team Report – Boston Red Sox – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–3B Will Middlebrooks (right wrist) was headed for X-rays after leaving the Aug. 10 game. Early indications, according to Bobby Valentine, weren’t positive.
–RHP Vicente Padilla (strained right biceps) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Aug. 6.
–OF Daniel Nava (sprained left wrist) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 29.
–OF Ryan Sweeney (broken left pinkie finger) went on the 15-day disabled list July 31, the same day he underwent surgery. He is expected to be out until late September.
–DH David Ortiz (strained right Achilles tendon) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 17. He took batting practice July 27 and 29. He was slowed in the final days of July, then got an injection in his heel Aug. 6. He hopes to return during the weekend of Aug. 10-12.
–RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (strained right trapezius muscle) went on the 15-day disabled list July 3. He threw his first bullpen session July 25, and he began a rehab assignment with Class AAA Pawtucket on July 30. He pitched again for Pawtucket on Aug. 5.
–RHP Scott Atchison (right forearm tightness) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 14. He made a rehab appearance for Class AAA Pawtucket on July 27 but suffered a setback. He was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, but he hopes to rehab the injury and return in September.
–RHP Andrew Bailey (right thumb surgery in April 2012) went on the 60-day disabled list April 4. He began throwing bullpen sessions June 20, and he threw live batting practice July 25. He began a rehab assignment Aug. 1 in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League, and he moved his rehab to Class AA Portland on Aug. 5 and then to Class AAA Pawtucket on Aug. 8. He may rejoin the Red Sox during the week of Aug. 13-19.
–LHP Rich Hill (strained flexor muscle in left elbow) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 9, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on July 6. He was making progress in a throwing program as of late July.
–RHP John Lackey (Tommy John surgery in October 2011) went on the 60-day disabled list Feb. 22. He will miss the entire season.
ROTATION:
LHP Jon Lester
LHP Felix Doubront
RHP Josh Beckett
RHP Aaron Cook
RHP Clay Buchholz
LHP Franklin Morales
BULLPEN:
RHP Alfredo Aceves (closer)
RHP Junichi Tazawa
RHP Mark Melancon
LHP Andrew Miller
LHP Craig Breslow
RHP Clayton Mortensen
CATCHERS:
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Kelly Shoppach
Ryan Lavarnway
INFIELDERS:
1B Adrian Gonzalez
2B Dustin Pedroia
SS Mike Aviles
3B Will Middlebrooks
INF Nick Punto
INF Pedro Ciriaco
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Carl Crawford
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
RF Cody Ross
OF Scott Podsednik
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