Clay Buchholz told NESN that he's in a game where confidence is key. He's got it now and has to keep it to be successful in the MLB. Buchholz solidified his self-confidence and the organization's confidence in him on Friday by pitching 5.2 innings and giving up just one run on four hits as the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays, 4-1. And now, he goes back to Pawtucket.

Clay's confidence got a boost before he even threw a pitch. In the top of the fiirst inning, Kevin Youkilis took a Ricky Romero pitch into the leftfield seats with Dustin Pedroia on base to put the Sox ahead, 2-0. Buchholz got three ground-ball outs in the bottom half of the first inning and he was on his way. A double play ended the third inning.

Toronto scored once in the fourth inning before Boston added two more runs in the fifth. David Ortiz doubled in Pedroia and Youkilis for a 4-1 lead on a hit that came as close to being a home run as is possible without actually being a home run.

When Buchholz left, the Sox bullpen kept Toronto in check. Daniel Bard, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Paplebon pitched 3.1 innings and allowed one hit. Combined. Paplebon earned his 24th save.

Around the MLB: The Yankees won, Pujols had two home runs as the Cards beat the Dbacks, 6-1, Jim Thome had seven RBI in the White Sox 12-8 win vs. the Orioles, Bronson Arroyo pitched seven scoreless innings as the Reds beat the Brewers, 4-0.

The Boston Red Sox wasted no time in restarting the 2009 season and didn't even wait until game 89 started on Friday to do it. Theo Epstein started a torrent of front-office activity by treating Julio Lugo like Lugo treated a double-play ball: He dropped him...from the roster and hopes to find a sucker a nice new home where errors are accepted. He called up Clay, sent down Aaron Bates and activated Mike Lowell. Clay, you owe Theo a nice bottle of wine for the Lowell and Lugo moves. Actually, every pitcher owes Theo for Lugo.

The team and Jason Bay broke off contract talks that started in June. The team reportedly made an "aggressive" offer that Bay and his agent rejected. While talks are probably finished until after the World Series, comments from both side give reason for optimism. Bay said, "I am in no position to say that I want to file for free agency and see what's out there. I'd still love to get something done here. I like it here." Theo said, "We're not going to begrudge him. We're not going to hold anything against him because he makes a decision that he may want to wait and be able to consider every possible opportunity."

Front office personnel in Foxboro are continually implementing Bill Belichick's diabolical gridiron schemes for the New England Patriots by signing several of the team's draft picks to contracts on Thursday and Friday.

A certain Bostonist must confess to trying to find clips of the crazy person called Brock Lesnar and his totally insane rant at the recent UFC event. Failed. But, along the way, a clip of New England Patriots offensive linemen Stephen Neal's 1999 NCAA wrestling title match with Lesnar was discovered. Neal beat Lesnar. It's interesting to see how Neal has evolved from a two-time NCAA champion to an NFL starter in less than 10 years.

This Bostonist must close on a sad note. While the point of mentioning Lesnar was to show how far Neal has come in a positive direction, two ex-Boston athletes find themselves moving in a negative direction. Antoine Walker and Chris Nilan were both arrested this week. Walker's case is pending, which means he is innocent until proven guilty. Nilan's case was dismissed.

Filed in Sports and tagged Chris Nilan, Clay Buchholz, Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis, New England Patriots, Sports Redux, Theo Epstein

Comments [rss]