BOSTON — Clay Buchholz wasn’t about to throw his bullpen under the bus after it put a damper on his terrific Patriots’ Day start.
The Red Sox right-hander bounced back from two rough outings Monday by pitching 6 2/3 scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays, allowing six hits, two walks and two strikeouts. But uncharacteristic outings from Koji Uehara and Craig Kimbrel in the eighth put the Jays up by three runs en route to a 4-3 Red Sox loss.
“It happens, man,” Buchholz said. “They’ve been picking us up for the first week and a half, two weeks of the season, so we’ve got to really sell the bullpen, and I don’t think anybody can question that. Every now and then, you have some hiccups, and you just have to sort of come back from it. Just like anything else, going 0-for-4 with three punchouts, you’ve got to come back the next day. We’ll get them back. We’re fine.”
Red Sox manager John Farrell pulled Buchholz in the seventh after he gave up a single to Russell Martin with two outs, and some questioned whether the righty could have gone longer. But Buchholz doesn’t blame the skipper for not having all his trust, considering his first two starts this season.
“In that situation, given the two prior starts, last start going out in the sixth and not getting an out,” Buchholz said. “It’s good to have a start where you can go back and look at all the good things rather than look back at the what if he would’ve taken me out an inning earlier or a hitter earlier, so it’s good to have a good start. You’d much rather win the start, but it’s good to get off on the right foot with one start moving forward.”
Here are some more notes from Monday’s Red Sox loss.
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— Uehara could be seen shaking his hand during his rough eighth inning — he finished with four earned runs on one hit and two walks — but Farrell said the set-up man probably was just loosening his wrist, as there’s nothing wrong with him.
“Nothing bothered him physically,” Farrell said. “Uncharacteristic loss of command that we’ve been so accustomed to seeing Koji demonstrate on the mound. They were able to bunch some baserunners. It felt like that was obviously the key inning in the game. But to say that there was something off with Koji other than his location, that was it here today.”
— Even though the bullpen couldn’t pull through, Monday was the fourth consecutive quality start from the Red Sox’s rotation.
— Boston’s defense did plenty of work, inducing five double plays for the first time since Aug. 31, 1993 against the Texas Rangers. Buchholz gets most of the credit for that, as he was responsible for a career-high four.
— Dustin Pedroia scored his 777th career run in the ninth inning, passing Johnny Pesky for 10th place on the Red Sox’s all-time list.
— Farrell said before Monday’s game that injured starter Eduardo Rodriguez (knee) would pitch a 60- to 65-pitch simulated game and hopefully join an affiliate club after that. Reliever Carson Smith (strained arm) is set to pitch Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in Fort Myers, Fla., before eventually joining a minor-league club.
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
