May 8, 2008:
Red Sox Complete Sweep of Tigers
Boston 4, Detroit 3
Clay Buchholz's spot on the roster was one in doubt coming out of Spring Training. The youngster had impressive the Sox staff last season, in particular by throwing a no-hitter, but rushing the right-hander was never a serious option.
"We'd like to see Clay put up some more innings in Pawtuckett, but he keeps showing us stuff that makes it seem like he's ready for now," manager Terry Francona said in his pre-game meeting with reporters.
Buchhlolz continued to show his stuff is capable of handling big league hitters last night when he held the Detroit offense in check for 8 innings before running out of gas in the ninth.
"I wanted it, I won't lie," Buchholz said afterwards. "I want to finish. I had a good game, but I guess I ran myself into trouble and Terry thought it best to make a move. The win is nice for us nonetheless. We came in here and swept a strong team."
With Jonathan Papelbon warming up and the Sox leading 4-0 after 8 innings, Francona sent his starter back out for the ninth with a complete game, shutout in sight. A lead-off walk and single had the Tigers with runners on the corners and no outs. Miguel Cabrera broke up the shutout with a sacrifice fly before Danny Worth collected his first big league hit with a two-run home run to pull the Tigers within one. Papelbon was summoned from the 'pen and finished off the win, collecting his 12th save in the process.
Boston got on the board first in the top of the 2nd when Julio Lugo slapped a single through a drawn-in infield to score Kevin Youkilis from third. Manny Ramirez and Sean Casey added solo shots in the third for a three run lead.
In the top of the ninth, the Red Sox added what would eventually become the game winning run when Youkilis drove a line-drive into the right field corner than ended up being good enough for a triple. Casey collected his second RBI of the game when he grounded out to the second baseman to score Youkilis.
With the sweep, Boston increased its lead in the AL East to 3.5 games over the Yankees. Next up for Boston is a trip to Minnesota for three before heading to Baltimore to finish the 11 game road trip.
W: Buchholz (3-0) L: Robertson (3-3) SV: Papelbon (12)
Player of the Game: Clay Buchholz (8.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K's, 121 PI)
Around the League:
..Boston signed C Josh Bard to a 2-year extension worth $7.24m...