Projo Sox Blog

The opposing starting pitcher was, seemingly, even more erratic and shaky than he was. His teammates staked him to a 4-0 lead. Everything was in alignment. All the pieces were in place.

And I'm sure you all saw what happened.

So Buchholz is gone, on his way past Pawtucket down to Portland after his 2 1/3-inning, 3-walk, 1-hit batter, 5-run disaster in the Red Sox' 11-6 loss to the Orioles. He leaves with a 2-9 record, a 6.75 ERA, an opponents' batting average of .299 . . . and in a daze about how he got to this spot and what he can possibly do to get out of it.

"When I put one guy on base, it feels like the bases are loaded," he told Joe McDonald. "Instead of gritting my teeth and saying, 'Let's get these guys out,' I'm thinking, 'Now what's going to happen?' I don't have a very high confidence level and something has to change."

The change will come in Double-A, where he'll be reunited with Sea Dogs pitching coach Mike Cather. And change was necessary for the Red Sox, too, since they're now 3-12 in games started by Buchholz and simply can't afford to be giving away every fifth turn in the rotation, not in the middle of a pennant race.

Michael Holley asserted on WEEI Radio a few days ago that expectations were too high for Buchholz before the season, which is probably true, but he also seemed to be saying that his performance was in line with what you'd expect from a fifth starter. Excuse me? You expect to get a 3-12 record out of your fifth starter? And no matter what people felt about Buchholz in April, positively or negatively, no one -- but no one -- thought he'd be 2-9, 6.75 on August 21.

But he is. Which is why he's now a Portland Sea Dog.

And it's also why FoxSports.com's Dayn Perry identifies "back of the rotation" as the Red Sox' weakness in his look at each contenders' biggest flaw.

HOW ABOUT THE FRONT OF THE ROTATION? We'll find out more about that tomorrow when Josh Beckett throws for the first time since suffering "tingling" in the ring and pinky fingers of his pitching hand. How that session goes will tell us whether or not he'll be able to start Tuesday in New York. If he can't, Tim Wakefield could probably take his place. McDonald has both stories.

I KNOW ONE GROUP OF GUYS WHO ARE GRATEFUL: Buchholz' departure, points out Joe Haggerty on his Hacks With Haggs blog, breaks up the back-to-back, bullpen-busting duo of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Buchholz, whose short starts meant some long, long nights for the relief corps . . . a workload that was tough to manage when it came on consecutive days.

STOLEN MOMENTS: McDonald reports Jacoby Ellsbury now has 41 stolen bases, 13 shy of Tommy Harper's franchise record.

ERROR, FINN: Chad Finn -- who buried Jason Varitek just prior to 'Tek's offensive awakening -- tells his readers: "C'mon, you should know by now that . . . I have an occasional knack for writing declarative statements that are often quickly proven . . . well, very, very wrong." And never, adds, was he more wrong than he was about Dustin Pedroia.

M*A*S*H NOTES, VARSITY DIVISION: J.D. Drew sat out his third straight game and Julio Lugo had a setback in his rehab. McDonald tells us all about it.

M*A*S*H NOTES, JUNIOR VARSITY DIVISION: Steven Krasner reports from Pawtucket on the health issues of outfielders Jonathan Van Every and Chris Carter.

BLOOD IS THICKER THAN AFFILIATIONS: Our old pal the Tao of Stieb can't seem to accept the notion that just because Manchester, N.H., is home of the Blue Jays' Double-A affiliate doesn't mean it's seceded from Red Sox Nation.

Of course, who would want a Clay Buchholz bobblehead is another matter. Other than Sox1Fan, that is.

IN OUR THOUGHTS: Our own Jim Donaldson isn't the only one with Carl Yastrzemski on his mind today. (Big League Stew)

'MAN ALIVE, DID HE GET ALL OF THAT ONE': When answering a fan's question about his longest home runs, Jim Rice mentioned a 1975 blast off the Royals' Steve Busby that was immortalized by the late, great Jim Woods on the Super Sox '75 album: "That one disappeared somewhere in the folds of the American flag."

AND SINCE YOU'VE KNOWN HIM FOR ALMOST THREE WEEKS AND WE'VE KNOWN HIM FOR 7 1/2 YEARS, YOU KNOW HIM MUCH BETTER THAN US: T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times is completely enthralled with Manny Ramirez, whom he describes as an approachable, happy-go-lucky chatterbox "nothing like the bitter folks [from Boston] describe him."

A LITTLE HELP: The Red Sox' night wasn't a complete loss, as the Angels scored a run in the ninth -- after giving up a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth -- and beat the Rays, 5-4 (Tampa Tribune), enabling Boston to stay 4 1/2 behind in the A.L. East. Joe Maddon, however, says he loves the pressure of a pennant race (St. Petersburg Times) . . . pressure that Carl Crawford, sadly, can only experience from the sidelines these days. (Tampa Tribune)

TALK OF THE TOWN: Folks in Florida still can't get over Jerry Meals' unbelievable first-base ruling Tuesday night (above), which led to a call from the St. Petersburg Times' John Romano for MLB to hold its umpires more accountable. Line of the day came from Joe Maddon; when crew chief Gary Darling defended Meals' call by saying he'd "called guys out for less," Maddon responded: "There is nothing less. It'd be less than zero."

You saw the play. You make your own decision.

IT'S ON: Not that it would have helped -- they're only going to use it for "boundary calls," such as determining whether fly balls were fair or foul or whether they went over fences, and not for calls like Meals' -- but MLB and the umpires reached an agreement yesterday that will permit the use of instant relay. (AP via projo.com) No word as to when it will start, but some officials say they'd like to begin by the end of the month.

RECORD NIGHT: Francisco Rodriguez is closing in on Bobby Thigpen's all-time saves record, but he passed another milestone last night: He recorded his Angels' franchise-record 48th save. (Riverside Press-Enterprise)

HANGING IN: The Yankees finally picked up ground yesterday, gaining a game in both the A.L. East and wild-card races as they beat the Blue Jays, 5-1. (New York Post) And it was the old guard that did it, as Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter led the way. (New York Daily News) Still, happiness over the victory was tempered -- I suppose -- by the news that Carl Pavano is likely to start on Saturday. (New York Post)

I'M OKAY: Alex Rodriguez has been the target of critics who are unhappy with his performance in clutch situations and some of his recent on-field decisions -- like getting thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double in the ninth inning Tuesday with the Yanks trailing by a run -- and, in something of a surprise, he came out yesterday and defended himself. (New York Daily News)

WHAT WAS ALL THE FUSS ABOUT? The Yankees received heaps of praise when they acquired Ivan Rodriguez from the Tigers last month, but Peter Abraham points out that, so far, it's been a deal that's hurt both teams. (LoHud Yankees Blog)

TIMETABLE SET: It appears the Mets will be without Billy Wagner for the next three weeks. (New York Daily News)

A.L. RACES: The White Sox -- 15-3 winners over the Mariners (Chicago Tribune) -- remain a game ahead of the Twins -- who beat the A's, 3-1 (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) -- in the A.L. Central, but Minnesota is now only a half-game behind the Red Sox in the wild-card race. The Twins, however, are embarking on a 14-games-in-15-days road trip to Anaheim, Seattle, Oakland and Toronto.

N.L. RACES: The Mets, 6-3 winners over the Braves (New York Daily News), maintained their 1 1/2-game lead in the N.L. East over the Phillies, who got a complete-game shutout from Brett Myers in beating the Nationals. (Philadelphia Daily News) They did, however, pick up a game on the Marlins, now five back after a gut-wrenching 6-5 loss in San Francisco (Miami Herald) in which they tied the game on a three-run homer by rookie John Baker in the top of the ninth but surrendered the losing run in the bottom of the ninth . . . In the Central, the Cubs' lead over the Brewers is down to five as they lost to Bronson Arroyo and the Reds (Chicago Tribune) while Milwaukee beat the Astros, 5-2. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . The Brewers' lead in the wild card is still 2 1/2 because St. Louis routed Pittsburgh, 11-2 (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . The Diamondbacks now lead by two in the West, as they beat the Padres (Arizona Republic) while the Dodgers made four errors in losing to the Rockies, 4-3. (Los Angeles Times)

FOLLOW THE LEADER: Scott Bordow of the East Valley Tribune thinks it can't be a coincidence that the acquisition of Adam Dunn coincided with "a free-swinging team [the Diamondbacks] suddenly . . . [discovering] the joy of ball four."

PUTTING POLITICS ASIDE: The sublime movie Bull Durham is finally being honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame. (blogs.timesunion.com) The long-overdue salute was delayed because one-time Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey, a former Republican official, didn't like the fact that two of its stars, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, were vocal opponents of the Iraq War.

WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY: Joe Torre has a blog!

HERE AND THERE: Mitch Maier of the Royals suffered three broken bones when he was hit in the face by a pitch from the Indians' Zack Jackson (Kansas City Star) . . . Tom Glavine won't need Tommy John surgery so he may return to the Braves next year (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . The Mets have signed former Rays reliever Al Reyes (New York Post) . . . Casey Kotchman has left the Braves to be with his ailing mother (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . Kyle Lohse is appealing the five-game suspension he received for his exhange of beanballs with Edinson Volquez Sunday (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . Joey Cora's name is popping up in regards to the Mariners' managerial search (Seattle Times) . . . It now looks as if Erik Bedard will be out for the rest of the season. (mlb.com)

OLD FRIENDS: That didn't take long: Brandon Moss was back in the Pirates' lineup last night (rotoworld.com) . . . Hanley Ramirez is day-to-day because of a right-thumb contusion. (mlb.com)

AND FINALLY . . . The blog Sox & Dawgs sees the same things in Orioles manager Dave Trembley that my wife sees.

She also thinks Joe Maddon (above right) a dead ringer for Spencer Tracy (left).

-- ART MARTONE