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A No No by Buchholz
Clay Buchholz
Red Sox Nation rejoiced as last night, twenty-two year old rookie Red Sox righty Clay Buchholz, called up from Triple AAA Pawtucket only hours earlier, hurled a no-hitter at the Baltimore Orioles.
Game Over -- No-hitter!
Buchholz spun his magic with no hit stuff that baffled the Oriole batters with a devastatingly deceptive change up clocking in at around 77 mph, a fastball in the low 90’s, a 12 to 6 curveball that clocked in around 80 – 84 mph and the occasional slider. That he was able to throw any of these pitches at any point in the strike count kept the Orioles off balance all night. Captain Jason Varitek called a superb game and deserves, if not almost equal credit, a great deal of credit for the night’s accomplishment.
The Captain & the Kid
Solid defensive helped the No No along with outstanding plays by Crisp, Pedroia, and Buchhloz himself (a former shortstop) preventing potential base-hits. Coco Crisp made several good catches in the outfield, but Dustin Pedroia undoubtedly made the play-of-the-game with a diving backhand stab behind second base where in seemingly one motion he dove outstretched for the ball, landed face down with the ball in his glove, rose and threw a strike to first to nab the runner by a split second.
To illustrate the rarity of a no-hitter, Buchholz’s was only the 3rd no-hitter at Fenway in the last 45 years, following one by Hedio Nomo and Derek Lowe. It’s the first ever by a Red Sox rookie. It’s the 2nd ever in the history of Major League ball of a rookie No No in his 2nd big league game.
Posted at September 2, 2007 03:06 PM