What the Buchholz?

It's been feast or famine for Red Sox hitters this season, and last night David Ortiz and the lineup ate well.

Ortiz hit a pair of solo homeruns, raising his RBI total to 20. Aviles was 2 for 5 with a homerun and 4 RBI. Darnell McDonald was a triple shy of the cycle. Marlon Byrd was 2 for 4 with a double, and is now hitting .333 since being acquired from the Cubs.

Buchholz was fine until the 7th inning. He allowed a run in the 2nd, but it wasn't an ugly inning. He was crisp in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th. Then he just fell apart in the 7th. His pitch count was low to start the inning (72). He simply stopped throwing strikes. And his strikes weren't fooling anyone. He only threw 36 balls in the entire game, 11 were in the 7th.

Buchholz showed the promise of potential. We know what he's capable of. Then he collapsed. I think he should get 2 more starts to work out whatever it is he needs to work out. If he can't, then he needs to figure things out in Pawtucket.

Oddly, he's 3-1. Which demonstrates the meaninglessness of the W-L stat.

Felix Doubront is scheduled to face Jarrod Parker tonight. Parker has made 2 career starts in the Majors. The weather might not cooperate, though.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Byrd Lands in Boston

The Sox made the very minor acquisition of outfielder Marlon Byrd. Byrd has started 2012 in a 3/43 slump. Although he's a career .278 hitter. He hit .276 last year and in 2009 he had 20 homeruns. He was acquired in exchange for Michael Bowden and a player to be named later.

The Sox desperately needed an outfielder. Ellsbury and Crawford are on the DL, and Repko hurt himself on Friday. Byrd is a short-term solution to this significant problem.

And of course the Sox have plenty of other problems to worry about. Maybe Marlon Byrd can pitch.