BOSTON -- He was back where he needed to be.
Clay Buchholz pitched the 17th no-hitter in the history of the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night, accomplishing in his second start what Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling never did.
Before Saturday's historic 10-0 win against the Baltimore Orioles, Red Sox manager Terry Francona spoke of a letdown in Buchholz's Triple-A performance after his Major League debut Aug. 17. For two weeks, the 6-foot-3 top prospect from Nederland, Texas, shuttled across upstate New York, losing his next two starts as a member of the Pawtucket Red Sox.
But, Francona added, "I think we still love this kid to death. And we're excited for a chance to run him out there and see how he does."
For nine innings, Buchholz sparkled with the flash bulbs. After each out, typically the result of a gravity-defying curveball or an immaculately released changeup, the anxious Red Sox rookie nibbled on his glove, enjoying the scene. By the last out, when Buchholz got Nick Markakis on a called strike three for his ninth strikeout and the final out of the game, the crowd of 36,819 was at a fever pitch.
Kevin Youkilis added a three-run home run in the sixth inning to the cause following David Oritz's three-run double in the fourth. But the Red Sox's eight-run outburst and, impossibly, the circumstances of the effort -- the Yankees won in the afternoon, staying five games behind -- remained secondary to Buchholz's singular brilliance.
He may well be up to stay.
