That theory was put to the test in Seattle over the weekend, when four straight strong starts yielded a series split and no wins for the rotation, due in no small part to paltry run support and a beleaguered bullpen that coughed up a pair of late leads.
On Monday in Anaheim, Clay Buchholz reaffirmed Francona’s belief system with an outstanding outing when his club needed it most, despite the best efforts by the aforementioned struggling Sox units to undermine the young right-hander’s bid for his 11th win.
Buchholz allowed just one run on five hits in seven innings, the lone run coming on a Bobby Abreu solo homer in the bottom of the first inning. He struck out seven, walked only one and picked up his first victory since June 20.
The 25-year-old, whose ERA dropped to 2.71, left the mound after the seventh inning with just a 2-1 lead, getting about the same amount of support from an offense that six times has been held to two runs or less since the All-Star break. The bullpen, specifically Scott Atchison, flirted with blowing the lead in the eighth when the Red Sox’ advantage went from 4-1 to 4-3 on a two-run blast by Hideki Matsui.
It felt like deja vu all over again, only in a different locale.
In the four-game series in Seattle, Boston’s starters — John Lackey, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka — went winless despite a 1.96 ERA, 28 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings and just 15 hits allowed. Lackey and Matsuzaka had leads lost by the bullpen. Beckett and Lester got just one run of support.
In the end, Buchholz got just enough assistance in the end to make his gem, and Francona’s theory, hold up.
Initially, it appeared as if the rust Buchholz showed five days ago in Oakland in his return from the disabled list was still with him when he took the mound in Anaheim.
Abreu crushed a hanging changeup into the seats in right to start the scoring, and Buchholz had given up two hits, a walk and a hit batter through the first two innings. Los Angeles had the bases loaded and nobody out in the second, when Buchholz finally found that first-half form and began to cruise.
Two popups and a lazy fly to left spoiled the rally for the Angels and set Buchholz on his way. Beginning with the last out of the third, he set down 11 straight and 13 of the last 14.
From Lackey’s flirtation with a no-hitter on Thursday night against the Mariners to Buchholz’s best start in nearly two months, Boston has had an extremely promising turn through the rotation. The quintet has combined to post a 1.83 ERA, 35 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings and a 0.90 WHIP.
And, finally, they have one win to show for their efforts. Just like Francona said they would.
