BOSTON — The Red Sox’s exciting win Saturday at Fenway Park was a joyous occasion for just about everyone on the home team.
Well, maybe except for Clay Buchholz.
David Ortiz’s double dose of heroics in Boston’s 6-5 win over the Houston Astros helped bury another tough outing for the Red Sox right-hander. Buchholz was touched for five runs on seven hits in six innings of work, allowing a solo homer to Carlos Correa in the first inning and a grand slam to George Springer in the second to put Boston in an early hole.
Buchholz now has surrendered five runs or more in five of his eight outings this season.
“(It’s) really frustrating,” Buchholz said. “You play to win, and we won the game, so that cures a little bit of it. But it’s got me scratching my head at points. … I’ve got to find a way to minimize the damage in the first couple innings.”
The starts of games have been especially brutal for the 31-year-old veteran. After surrendering five runs through two innings Saturday, Buchholz now has a 10.69 ERA this season in innings one and two. The good news is he’s recovered at times, as was the case Saturday, when he retired nine of the last 11 batters he saw.
“It’s not by lack of effort on his part, (or) lack of work between starts,” manager John Farrell said of Buchholz. “To simplify it, it’s about being a little bit more in command of the count.”
Buchholz doesn’t have much more room for error. Both Eduardo Rodriguez and Joe Kelly are close to returning from injuries, and the Red Sox could decide to bump Buchholz from the starting rotation to give the two pitchers some work. But Farrell played coy when asked about the possibility of Buchholz missing an outing.
“We haven’t talked about that,” Farrell said. “Everything points to him making his next start.”
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Let’s hit a few other notes from Saturday’s wild win:
— The game could have ended in the ninth inning if it wasn’t for a baffling decision by Hanley Ramirez. After Ortiz tied the score with an RBI triple, thus putting himself 90 feet away from plating the winning run, Ramirez inexplicably bunted with two outs and easily was thrown out at first base.
“He saw something that maybe only he saw,” Farrell said. “Looking to push a bunt past (Astros closer Luke) Gregerson, (who) was on the mound at that time. We’re kind of hopeful that he might swing the bat and drive a run in.”
Ramirez confirmed he was bunting on his own and admitted he was trying to catch the defense by surprise. He then resorted to humor to explain his odd decision:
“That’s exactly why I bunted: so (Ortiz) could come back up (in the 11th inning).”
— Speaking of baffling decisions, the Astros’ insistence on pitching to Ortiz in the 11th inning was a bit of a head-scratcher. First base became unoccupied after Michael Feliz’s wild pitch allowed Xander Bogaerts to move up to second, but Feliz threw a changeup in the strike zone on the next pitch that Big Papi hammered for the game-winning hit.
Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. admitted he was “very” surprised Houston pitched to Ortiz in the 11th.
“I don’t care if David is 100 years old. He’s not going to beat me,” Bradley said. “I’m going to let him beat me. I don’t know — we’re glad. We’re very thankful for the win.”
— Here’s what Astros manager A.J. Hinch had to say about the decision:
— Bradley, batting from the No. 2 hole, extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a first-inning single. That’s the longest hitting streak in Major League Baseball and the longest streak by a Red Sox player since Ortiz’s 27-game hitting streak over the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
— Rodriguez pitched a rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three, hit a batter and allowed two home runs while throwing 100 pitches.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
