PHILADELPHIA — For one day, at least, Clay Buchholz was the Boston Red Sox’s ace.
Buchholz twirled seven sparkling innings Monday as the Red Sox defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 8-0 on Opening Day at Citizens Bank Park. The oft-scrutinized hurler went toe-to-toe with Cole Hamels and emerged victorious by maintaining total control throughout the contest.
“Clay set the tone from the mound right from the get-go,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said after the win. “He did such a good job with his offspeed pitches, including keeping his fastball down in the strike zone.”
Buchholz scattered three hits over his seven shutout frames. He struck out nine, walked only one and rarely surrendered hard contact in what was a superb performance to open arguably his most important season since breaking into the majors in 2007. It would have been unfair to ask for much more, even if the Red Sox’s offense did steal most of the attention with its five-homer effort against Hamels and Co.
“I think he had complete conviction in the pitches that he was throwing,” Farrell said. “(Catcher) Ryan (Hanigan) did a great job with him as far as the constant mix of pitches, changing speeds. I don’t know that he shook off maybe a handful of times, if that, throughout the course of the game.
“And I think just pitching alongside (Rick) Porcello, (Wade) Miley and Joe Kelly — guys that by nature have a quick tempo — (a quick pace is) kind of filtered in to the entire group.”
The talk all offseason, spring training and even in the hours leading up to Monday’s opener was about Boston not having an ace in its starting rotation. Perhaps that’s true, but Buchholz’s first start of the season was ace-like in nearly every way.
One shouldn’t assume Buchholz definitely will emerge as Boston’s clear-cut No. 1 starter this season just because he started the year on a high note. If we’ve learned anything in recent years, it’s that Buchholz can soar to great heights and then plummet to unforeseen depths at the drop of a hat.
Buchholz looked eerily similar to the pitcher who was lights-out at the beginning of 2013, though, as he consistently kept hitters off balance by seemingly having the baseball on a string.
Buchholz was adamant from the day he arrived at spring training that this is as good as he’s felt physically in a long time, meaning a bounce-back campaign isn’t outside the realm of possibility. Monday’s awesome performance was a step in the right direction, albeit against subpar competition.
“This is how I planned it in my head,” Buchholz said. “Everybody’s opinion about the rotation outside the clubhouse is different than what’s in here.”
Buchholz, who struck out nine batters only twice last season, is just the second pitcher in Red Sox history to allow zero runs in at least seven innings pitched in his first career Opening Day start. The other: Pedro Martinez, who was the epitome of an ace.
There’s still a lot of baseball to be played this season, which means there still are plenty of opportunities to screw up. But a taste of Buchholz’s past excellence was all the Red Sox needed on Day 1.
They received it. And it was sweet indeed.
Thumbnail photo via Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports Images
