Memories were the theme of the day and there were plenty of them - including bad reminders of how Red Sox pitching failed last season.
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Clay Buchholz reacts after giving up a home run to the New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez on Friday.BOSTON - Fitting, really, that on the day that the Red Sox spent celebrating the centennial of Fenway Park, fans at Friday’s game against the Yankees were given a stark reminder of why, for 86 of those 100 years between 1918 and 2004, Boston was unable to bring home a World Series title - they just didn’t have the pitching.
Looking at the current edition of the Red Sox, pitching is still pretty hard to come by.
For the third time this season, righthander Clay Buchholz, who was 23-10 over the last two seasons, took the mound, and for the third time he failed to deliver a quality start in a 6-2 loss to New York.
Buchholz lasted six innings (he did work into the seventh), giving up five earned runs on nine hits, and giving further fodder for the mass of frustrated fans who have watched Valentine give his starters far too much leeway. But the most discouraging aspect of his outing was that he was a victim of the home run ball, giving up five - two to Eric Chavez, and one each to Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher and Russell Martin. That landed Buchholz his first loss of the year, putting his record at 1-1 with an ERA of 9.00.
Manager Bobby Valentine, looking fairly defeated in the interview room after the game, said that Buchholz was having trouble locating his fastball, but was still competitive. His home run totals, Valentine acknowledged, were, “perplexing.”
Perplexing is a good way to sum up this team, whose performance was a disappointing way to wrap up a day that started with a special ceremony to commemorate Fenway’s anniversary, which featured the appearance of 212 former Red Sox players and managers - including Hall of Famers Bobby Doerr, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk and Jim Rice, and former manager Terry Francona, who was controversially let go after last season, but received the loudest ovation on this day. That had to be, in part, because fans are already wistful for Francona’s presence in the dugout, with his replacement, Valentine, off to a 4-9 start.
And that, again, goes back to pitching, where the Red Sox rank worst in the American League and didn’t get much help from Buchholz. When Buchholz has his full five-pitch repertoire working, he is able to keep his pitches down and limit home run damage. He relies heavily on his four-seam fastball, and counters that with a cutter. He has a good curveball and changeup, and going back to Buchholz’s best season—two years ago, when he went 17-7—he was virtually untouched by home runs, giving up just nine in 28 starts.
But Buchholz clearly is not operating with his best stuff, and Valentine said as much on Friday. He suffered a stress fracture in his lower back - originally diagnosed as a strain - last season, and did not make a start after June 16. He still does not seem to have recovered.
Buchholz made five starts in spring training, giving up 12 runs in 20.2 innings (5.23 ERA). In the one win he did get during the regular season, he gave up five runs.
That has been in keeping with the rest of the Boston rotation. The Red Sox bullpen, which lost projected closer Andrew Bailey before the season, has taken a sizable portion of blame for the team’s struggles. However, the starters have generally disappointed, too. In 13 games this year, the Red Sox have gotten just five quality starts.
Valentine said it’s too early to panic on that front. “We’re working on getting it together,” Valentine said. “It’s still a very talented team.”
Perhaps, but it’s worth noting that the five homers that Buchholz allowed moves him next to Josh Beckett for most home runs allowed in one game - only two other teams in major league history have had two starters give up five homers in a game (including the ’09 Red Sox, with Buchholz and Beckett "accomplishing" the feat then, too).
And we’re only 13 games in.