Huge expectations were heaped on Clay Buchholz after he became the first Red Sox rookie to throw a no-hitter last Sept. 1, doing so in only his second big league start. With a blazing fastball, knee-buckling curve and enough raw talent to make even an All-Star envious, it was thought the historic night would propel him to immediate stardom in his first full season.
There was no way that anyone could have ever anticipated that the 24-year-old would respond by turning in one of the most miserable, extended stretches in recent team history, culminating with another disastrous start last night in an 11-6 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards and an immediate demotion to Double-A Portland. How awful has Buchholz been? The numbers are staggering. He fell to 0-7 with a 9.22 ERA in his last nine starts, which is the Sox’ longest losing skid since Frank Castillo went 0-8 in 10 starts in 2002. Buchholz’ slide has been far worse, however, because he has been provided leads in the first three innings in six of the nine starts and squandered each one.
Provided a first-inning lead for the third consecutive start, Buchholz (2-9) collapsed again in embarrassing fashion, allowing five runs on three hits, three walks and a hit batsman in only 2 1/3 innings. The right-hander likely will be replaced by a reliever, with Triple-A Pawtucket’s Chris Smith a leading candidate to be recalled. With off days today and Monday, Francona has the option of starting Paul Byrd in Buchholz’ spot Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, activating Tim Wakefield off the disabled list or summoning David Pauley or Michael Bowden from the PawSox.
On the season, Buchholz has been given leads of at least 2-0 before throwing his first pitch on four occasions. He has blown every one, including each of his last three starts. The Sox scored twice in the top of the first last night against lefty Chris Waters (2-0) on three hits and a pair of walks. They upped it to 4-0 in the second on three more hits and an error. Buchholz, though, held the lead as tightly as a red-hot charcoal briquette, just as he did in his previous two starts. On Aug. 4 in Kansas City, he was handed a 2-0 lead in the first, only to allow one run in the second and three more in the third in an eventual 4-3 loss. Six days later in Chicago, Buchholz was given a 3-0 lead in the first, only to allow five runs in three-plus frames in a 6-5 defeat. Last night, he retired the first four batters before unraveling in a 29-pitch second inning. Buchholz allowed three runs on two walks and three hits, including Brian Roberts’ two-run single lashed past a diving Kevin Youkilis at third. Buchholz hit Melvin Mora with a pitch on the left hand to open the third and allowed a one-out walk to Luke Scott before Francona decided he had seen enough.
David Aardsma offered no relief. Ramon Hernandez belted his third pitch over the left-center wall, just beyond the lunge of a wall-climbing Coco Crisp, who tumbled into the home bullpen in an attempt to catch it. The three-run shot pushed Baltimore ahead, 6-4. Aardsma then walked Luis Montanez, who later scored on Juan Castro’s two-out single.
Nation Notes: It appears Tim Wakefield will need just one more side session before returning from the disabled list. The knuckleballer threw 44 pitches yesterday, and the plan is for him to throw another side session Saturday. J.D. Drew didn’t play for the third straight game, missing the entire series with tightness in his lower back. Though he was feeling better, Francona elected to keep Drew out of the lineup since he hadn’t participated in baseball activities for three days. The plan was for him to take batting practice and likely be back in the lineup tomorrow in Toronto. The Red Sox signed catcher David Ross to a minor-league contract, he is expected to report to Class AAA and eventually become the Sox’s third catcher behind Jason Varitek and Kevin Cash.
