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Buchholz proves his worth in PawSox 6-3 victory

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- When he’s at his best, Clay Buchholz is all but unhittable. And even when he’s not, he’s pretty darn good.

Last night against the Syracuse Chiefs, Buchholz displayed a bit of both, which was good enough to help the Pawtucket Red Sox notch a 6-3 win before 6,621 at Alliance Bank Stadium.

Joe McEwing (3-for-5) and Jed Lowrie (2-for-4) paced the Pawtucket attack each knocking in two runs as the PawSox won their third straight.

Buchholz (1-1) issued just two walks in his five-inning stint, one of whom eventually scored.

He also allowed just three hits, but two of those were solo shots over the right field fence.

“I think he’ll (admit),” said PawSox catcher Kevin Cash, “that he wasn’t as sharp as he would have like to have been. Stuff wise, he probably had bits and pieces of it. But that shows how talented he is.”

Indeed.

The young phenom, making just his sixth Triple-A start, was often overpowering. He struck out nine hitters (for the third straight outing), and earned his first win since his July 11 promotion from Double-A Portland.

“It’s really refreshing,” said McEwing, the gray haired veteran of the youthful Buchholz, “to see a guy who can dominate a game. To see the maturity and adjustments that he makes, game to game. Today, he might not have had his best stuff, but they still only had three hits.”

Run scoring singles in the second by Alex Prieto and Ed Rogers off Syracuse starter Josh Banks (10-9) put Pawtucket ahead, 2-1.

Next inning, McEwing cracked a lead off double, then was singled home by Lowrie.
Pawtucket then opened up a 6-2 lead, when McEwing smacked a two-run double, then was singled in for the second time by Lowrie.

“If you have quality at bats,” said McEwing, “and you play to win, everything else takes care of itself.”

It may have taken him a while, but Buchholz slowly hit his stride.

In the third, he gave up a lead off homer to Sal Fasano followed by a single to Ryan Roberts before striking out the side.

Buchholz retired the first two batters in the fourth before allowing a lead off shot by former Red Sox prospect John Hattig. He struck out Fasano, but the ball bounded away allowing Fasano to reach safely.

But closed out the inning by freezing Roberts with a 94 m.p.h. fastball.

“The outcome was great,” said Buchholz. “But in the same sense, I didn’t have everything I had in the last couple of starts. But by the time the fourth inning rolled around, I knew what I had in my pocket, and I went after them with that.”

Buchholz closed out his 80 pitch performance by retiring the Chiefs in order, striking out the last two he faced.

A trio of PawSox relievers, Craig Breslow, Javier Lopez, and Bryan Corey, took it from there, allowing just runner over the final four frames.

AROUND THE BASES: McEwing has pretty much owned Banks this season, going 7-for-8 against him, with four doubles and a homer to go with two singles. “It‘s just one of those things,” said McEwing. “You have success against one guy, while another guy could own you. It‘s a very humbling game.”…Only once before in his young professional career had Buchholz given up two homers in one game. That came last year while he was pitching for Low-A Greenville…Syracuse manager Doug Davis was tossed out in the fourth inning by umpire Kevin Causey after Davis argued a close play at first base…The PawSox will wrap up their stay, here, tonight (7:00 p.m.), when RHP David Pauley (6-5, 3.94) will draw the start against Syracuse RHP Mike MacDonald (4-8, 4.93).

--DAN HICKLING

Posted by Chris Venditto  at 10:10 PM to PawSox | Permalink