Different Sox in Baltimore this time around

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

Clay Bucholz threw a dazzling 5-hit, complete game for the second shutout of his career in a exclamatory 11-0 Sox win in Baltimore Friday night – where they got swept just weeks ago.

Bucholz was in top form, reminiscent of when we saw him throw a no-hitter in Baltimore in 2007. Over a complete game Bucholz didn’t streak out more than 2 batters but he only walked 1 and got a lot of other easy outs for his defense – including 8 first-pitch outs.

Not only was it one of those nights for the starter, but the whole team seemed to be all over the Orioles like white on rice, in a Dixie paper cup in the middle of a snow storm. Kevin Youkilis, Beltre and Marco Scutaro got Clay’s back, whipping out their bats for a trifecta of longballs.

Red Sox Record: (32-24)
Wildcard Watch: Sox now 4.5 games behind Rays and 2.5 back from Yanks
Saturday’s Matchup: Jon Lester (6-2, 2.97 ERA) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (3-5, 3.79 ERA)

Yay’s:
- Bucholz is proving more than his worth as a standout 25-year-old pitcher, getting 8 wins already this season, winning the last 9 straight road starts – second in the Sox organization only to Roger Clemens who had 12 straight road wins in ’87-’88.

The young pitcher that was nearly dealt over the past 2 off-seasons is now making an excellent All-Star bid with an 8-3 record, 49 strikeouts and a 2.39 ERA over his first 11 starts.

Nay’s:
- TALK guys TALK! It’s a basic thing I learned in high school ball, if you’re going to give the guy with the best opportunity of making the play a chance you’ve gotta communicate on the field.

My point? Jeremy Hermida and Adrian Beltre almost had a season-ending catastrophe collision going out for a blooper down the left-field line. Beltre ended up only slightly clipping Hermida on his sliding grab, but it could’ve been much worse.

After all that is the exact play where Jacoby Ellsbury slid his ribcage into Beltre’s knee in April. Ells still isn’t back on the field, suffering from the nagging injury. All the Sox need right now is for Beltre or Hermida to go down and leaving a gaping hole in their red hot lineup.

Sooooo TALK! Please, I beg of you, talk!