GAME 47 – 5/22/2013 – in Chicago vs. the White Sox

RESULT – WIN 6-2

Clay Buchholz wasn’t his usual dominant self last night but he put in a strong seven innings to secure his 7^th win of the season and also snap a 2 game losing streak for the Red Sox.

Buchholz went 7 innings giving up only 5 hits and one run, walking 3 and striking out 4.  His strikeout total was lower than normal and his command early was a bit off as he was missing with his secondary pitches.  The White Sox got to him for one run in the 3^rd but that’s as close as they’d come off of him.

His pace was a bit slow last night and at one point he threw over to first base 4 times in a row.  He seems to be throwing to first a lot this year and I don’t know if it’s because he’s nervous about the runner stealing or if it’s a timing thing where he’s trying to stunt the runner and not let him have a good jump.  Either way, it’s very annoying to watch and I hope that he can limit his throws over to first in the future. 

Last night he also seemed to be working at a slower pace than usual.  Not Josh Beckett slow but slower than in his previous outings.  It made it seem that he was laboring through the outing when in fact the White Sox never really did anything against him.  The 5 hits were scattered and none were extra base hits.  Sometimes the slow pace though will make a pitcher look less in control than he really is.

It’s a really good thing that Buchholz was in control last night because the bats certainly weren’t going all that good until late.  The Red Sox got 2 in the first inning but would score again until the eighth and ninth.  They had 9 hits but it all came from the top and middle of the order.  The bottom 3 (7-9 hitters) again were absolutely brutal.

Will Middlebrooks, Stephen Drew and Jarrod Saltalamacchia was a combined 1 for 11 with 7 strikeouts.  Middlebrooks did have an RBI sacrifice fly and Stephen Drew walked once with the one lone hit coming from Salty but the bottom part of the order has done nothing in the last 2 games.  The Sox really need to get Middlebrooks going and it seems Stephen Drew is as streaky as I remember his brother being.

Overall the Sox left 10 men on base and went 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position.  Twice they had rally-killing double-plays.  The first in the top of the 3^rd as David Ortiz wasted a leadoff walk by Dustin Pedroia and grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, his 9^th of the season.  Then again in the fifth a leadoff walk was wasted as Jonny Gomes hit into a 5-4-3 double play.  This team is slow on the base paths so double-plays are going to happen but for Big Papi they’re becoming the norm.

The bright spots for the Red Sox offense were Jacoby Ellsbury who was on base 4 times, David Ortiz who had 2 hits and 2 RBI and Daniel Nava who had 2 RBI.

Ellsbury had 2 hits and 2 walks and looked a lot better with his approach at the plate.  He looked like a leadoff hitter last night as he was taking some pitches and working the count to his favor.  For the Red Sox to contend, they need Ellsbury on base.

David Ortiz had 2 hits with one being an RBI single in the 1^st but what everyone will be talking about today is his 1^st stolen base of the year.  It came in the top of the 1^st after his single and a walk to Napoli.  Ortiz stole 3^rd on Nava’s strikeout with everyone in the stadium being shocked he took off.  Nava, who struck out, looked puzzled and Napoli didn’t follow so he must have been as surprised as Nava.  The stolen base didn’t even warrant a throw to 3^rd and I’m sure it was because the White Sox catcher, Tyler Flowers was not ever expecting Ortiz to take off.  It was Ortiz’s 12^th career stolen base and just the second for him since 2008.

Daniel Nava added some insurance in the 9^th inning when he singled in two runs to put the Sox up 6-1.  It was Nava’s only hit on the night but he also walked once.  Nava has 29 RBI this year and is batting .288.  He’s been a pleasant surprise and has become a dangerous middle of the order hitter this year.

Koji Uehara pitched a perfect 8^th inning for his 10^th hold of the year.  He struck out 2 in the outing and looked as dominant as ever.  Andrew Bailey made his first appearance since his triceps injury and was a bit shaky in his return.  He surrendered a solo homerun to Paul Konerko but worked around it for the final outs of the game.  It was great to see him back out there but he needs to limit the solo homeruns for us Red Sox fans to not have any heart attacks in the 9^th inning in the future.

The Red Sox return home tonight for a four games series against the Cleveland Indians and former manager Terry Francona.  The Sox were 6-3 on their road trip and look to keep it going tonight against a tough Cleveland Indian team.

Ryan Dempster (2-4, 4.27 ERA) will toe the rubber tonight looking to rebound after a tough outing last time in Minnesota.  It was his worst outing of the year as he didn’t even make it out of the 5^th inning.  He’ll look to rebound against Zach McAllister ( 3-3, 2.65 ERA) who’s been very good this year.  His last 4 outings have been fantastic as he hasn’t allowed more than 2 earned runs in a game.  He has 14 strikeouts in those outings against 6 walks.  He pitches to contact and the Sox will need to find some space tonight to get a win.

SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE – GAME MVP

David Ortiz.  Ortiz went 2 for 5 and drove in 2 and also stole his first base since 2008.  Ortiz got the Sox off to a good start in the 1^st and was able to let Clay Buchholz put it on cruise control.

ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP

Will Middlebrooks.  Will continues to struggle at the plate.  His average is now down to .203 and with another 0 for night he’ll be under .200.  He did drive in a run with a sacrifice fly but pitchers are getting him out continually on outside pitches.  Will seems to be trying to pull everything and either missing it or rolling over to easy groundballs and pop flys.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Big Papi’s first inning 2-run single to get the scoring started.  It would be all Clay Buchholz would need on the night as he held the White Sox bats in check.

NEXT

Tonight, May 23rd at Fenway vs. the Cleveland Indians.