Clay Buchholz Strings Together Three Quality Starts, Earns Amica Pitcher of the Week

If one thing has plagued the Red Sox this year, it's been a lack of consistency. That's part of the reason they're stuck in third place in the AL East. While the Sox have been working out of that trend, a big reason why has been the performance of Clay Buchholz.

With three consecutive quality starts (and, subsequently, three consecutive victories), the right-hander has been in command of all his pitches, pounded the strike zone and helped the Red Sox go 9-5 since his start in Detroit on May 14.

This past week, Buchholz was tasked with following up gems from Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield over the weekend, and he had to do it against the dominant Tampa Bay Rays. It proved to be no issue for the 25-year-old, who gave up just a solo home run to Carlos Pena in a six-inning effort. He did allow six hits and one walk, but his eight strikeouts helped limit the damage.

"He made some great pitches, and then he got so comfortable," Terry Francona told ESPN.com after the win. "Whether you call it a cutter or slider, especially to left-handed hitters, it allowed him to get back in the count, and get swings and misses. I'll bet he threw 30 or 35 of 'em, he had such a good feel for it."

That he did, and his mastery of his arsenal that he's shown this year shows that he continues to improve for the Red Sox.

"I feel like I've picked up where I left off last year," Buchholz told MLB.com earlier this month. "That's what I wanted to do going into spring training. That didn't go the way I planned, but they give me the ball every fifth day, and I try to go out and do my best. That's basically how it goes and how it works. You gain confidence from doing well, and it goes from there."

For Francona, when Buchholz is on his game, it makes the manager's job a whole lot easier.

"It's fun to watch a kid pitch like that," Francona told MLB.com after Buchholz went eight strong innings against the Twins last week. "He pitched. There's some really dangerous hitters in that lineup that are feeling pretty good about themselves right now, and he really pitched. He used all his pitches, he located, he pounded the strike zone. He stayed down. He did a great job."

He's showing some realization of his potential, which was enough to earn pitcher of the week honors, but if the past few starts have been an indication, he very well could be on to even greater feats.