A Rough Outing For Clay Buchholz

Yes, it was a rough two innings for young Clay Buchholz Sunday in Fort Myers, as he pitched the third and fourth innings of Sunday's game against the Twinkies. He gave up four runs and four hits in that short span. He had this to say afterwards...

“I’ve got to be able to get outs and not give up four runs in an inning. I know that,” Buchholz said. “It didn’t happen to me all that much last year so it’s a little bitter right now.”
“There’s probably four or five guys here that are fighting for one spot,” Buchholz said. “I like competing against everybody and that’s what it’s all about. If they were just going to give it to you, you’d take it for granted and that’s not how it should work.”

Yes, conceivably Tavarez or Colon could fill that number five slot in the rotation, but I have faith in Clay. It was his first spring start, and like Jon Lester, his mechanics were off. It's only natural. On the up side, old man Timmy Wakefield pitched the first two innings, scoreless innings, too. He said this after his stint...

“If I can give the club 200 innings and have as many decisions as I did last year, I should be right back where I was, hopefully,” he said. “I think that’s my biggest asset to this team.”

On the down side, Craig Hansen, who many of us thought would have already blossomed into a "light's-out" reliever, pitched the ninth, also giving up four runs on only two hits. A forgettable day for parts of the Boston Red Sox pitching staff, but that's what spring training is for-to get the kinks out and prepare for the long haul ahead, a six month up and down roller coaster ride that we hope will end with a world championship, with plenty of thrills and chills, sadness and euphoria on the way. It's the game of baseball, and I love it. We ALL do!

Have a great Monday as we start yet another new week. Time has been flying by...it seems that the older (umm...wiser) I get, the quicker each precious day goes by, becoming the past instead of part of the future. Such is life, I guess. This is my first time experiencing life, so I really don't know what to expect. But who does?

Oh, don't forget to click on the title of this post for more on the Yankee/Red Sox war of words. Be safe, be well and be happy, and I know you'll enjoy Silverman's piece in the Herald. So click away!