Bucholz wins duel vs. Greinke with shutout

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

A fiery Clay Bucholz had his hands full facing off with 2009 AL Cy Young Award Winner Zack Greinke on the mound in Fenway Saturday. But Clay brought the good stuff and was just ever so slightly better than All-Star hurler in a showdown of elite young arms.

Greinke was great, but Bucholz was greater…matching the American League ace at every opportunity until the Sox got one break and seized the chance. Mike Lowell drove in the Sox’s only run on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice grounder to take a 1-0 lead that would be the difference maker.

Clay gave up only 4 hits over 7 innings to cement himself as Boston's most consistent starter in 2010 -- standing at 7-3 with a 2.73 ERA. This has been a welcome refreshment to the Sox staff with Josh Beckett not only struggling on the mound early, but with injuries that could potentially keep him out until the midway point of the year or later.

Another key play in the game came when Dustin Pedroia snagged a ripped hit up the middle to his right off a high-hop and made a great throw to first to prevent the runner from getting on base. Even more crucial was this play as it came with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th and a runner attempting to score from third base to tie the game up. Pedroia said ‘nay-nay’ to that though.

Yet another great example of how defense sealed this one for Bucholz and the Sox was when V-Mart gunned down the Royals’ Scott Posednik attempting to steal second base after he led off the 6th inning with a single. Posednik takes that base and who knows? It’s a momentum thing, and Victor wasn’t letting anything like that fly on Saturday night.

Red Sox Record: (28-23)
Today’s Pitching Matchup: Jon Lester (5-2, 3.09 ERA) vs. Bruce Chen (1-0, 2.77 ERA)

Nay’s:
- After only throwing 25 pitches in a Friday workout it became apparent that Josh Beckett's strained lower back is not healing as fast as anticipated, not only will he not be activated this week but it appears that he may be facing a more extended time on the DL.

Yay’s:
- The Sox have found a way to win without Beckett and Ellsbury (and Cameron to boot for a good portion as well) – key members of past year’s successful teams. Players like Clay Bucholz, Jeremy Hermida, J.D. Drew, Darnell McDonald, and now resurgent David Ortiz have made this ship keep its sails up when it looked to be sinking.

- Papelbon got his 12th save on a smooth, ideal 1-2-3 9th inning. Good to see he’s on top of his game now, especially against the lineups (like the Royals) who should give him no trouble what so ever.
Daniel Bard also shined as Paps’ setup man, getting through a threatening 8th inning to leave nothing as else for Big John to do other than slam the door in the 9th.