| 03 September 2009
Clay Buchholz and David Price aren't really rookies anymore. Buchholz pitched a no-hitter in 2007 and fumbled through 2008 before earning a mid-season call-up this year after mowing down the Triple A kids... and Price was a key member of the Rays bullpen in 2008 and actually has more postseason experience than Buchholz does.
But Buchhy is 25 and Price just turned 24 in August, and both "kids" have fought through some growing pains this year. Buchholz dominated Tripe A this year, but struggled getting through six innings at the big league level after his call-up in July. Price was called up to start for the Rays in late May and couldn't replicate the success he had as a reliever in 2008 - posting a 5.10 ERA through May, June and July.
But both phenoms have come into their own recently and their respected ballclubs will be looking for big games out of each of them tonight.
The Sox make easy work of the Rays in Game 1 of this series, but Josh Beckett struggled again in Game 2 and the Sox couldn't pull off a late-game comeback - even after it was all but handed to them by the Rays bullpen.
A win tonight for the Red Sox would keep the Rays deep in the wild card hole and potentially put some distance between them and the Rangers, should the Rangers lose.
A win for the Rays would keep thier playoff hopes alive with four weeks left in the 2009 season.
Buchholz has been very good against the Rays, posting a 1-1 record with a 2.03 ERA and 15 Ks through two starts. He also fanned nine over eight innings in his only start in the Trop back in 2008... in a heart-breaking 2-1 loss. Buchhy is 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA on the road this year, but he's coming off of his best start of the season against Toronto - holding the Jays to three hits and one run through 8 1/3 innings while punching out nine.
Price has been dominant at the Trop and since the Red Sox struggle in the dome, they will need to bring their A-game tonight if they want to win this series. Price is 6-2 with a 2.96 ERA at home and he won his only other match-up with the Sox when he held them to two runs through six innings back on August 5th. Price has been good as of late, but he does issue his fair share of walks and the Sox could make things difficult on him with a little patience.
Victor Martinez is expected to catch Buchholz tonight and he and Jason Bay took Price deep in their last meeting. The Sox don't have much experience beyond that one start against Price.
The Rays have seen a little more of Buchholz, but haven't accomplished much. Crawford is 2 for 6 (.333) and Iwamura is 2 for 7 (.286) with a homer... but the rest of the Rays haven't seen Buchhy or haven't faired well against him.
Bottom Line: The is a big game for both teams so we'll get a good look at how these young pitchers will react to a pressure situation. Clay can prove that he deserves to be the No. 3 starter for the Sox with a solid outing tonight.
Go Buchy!
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