Boston – Before Clay Buchholz made his major-league debut two weeks ago, the Boston Red Sox told him he was going back to the minors – even if he pitched a no-hitter.
Got to keep the kid now.
The 23-year-old rookie pitched that no-hitter in just his second outing, using a dazzling assortment of fastballs, curves and changeups to beat the Baltimore Orioles 10-0 on Saturday night.
“There’s no going back to Triple-A,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.
Buchholz was called up from Pawtucket on Saturday when teams were allowed to expand their 25-man rosters.
The crowd stood through the entire ninth inning, cheering every pitch and taking pictures of the righty in his windup and as he paced around the mound.
He started the ninth by striking out Brian Roberts on a 93 mph fastball. A groan rose from the stands when Corey Patterson hit a line drive to center, but Coco Crisp easily moved over to catch it for the second out.
Buchholz started Nick Markakis with a ball, then went ahead 1-2 when the batter fouled one off with a check swing. The crowd grew even louder, the flashes were constant, and Buchholz threw a 77 mph curveball that Markakis watched go by.
The final pitch was his 115th, 21 more than his longest outing of the season. If he had reached 120, even if he had a no-hitter, he would have been taken out, general manager Theo Epstein said.
Mike Lowell scoffed at the notion.
“If there’s two outs in the ninth, Theo would have had to come down there and had to take him out himself,” he said.
Buchholz, who turned 23 on Aug. 14, pitched the third no-hitter of the season – following Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox against Texas on April 18 and Justin Verlander of Detroit against Milwaukee on June 12.
Buchholz (2-0) became the third pitcher since 1900 to throw a no-hitter in his first or second major-league start, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Bobo Hollomon did it in his first start on May 6, 1953, for the St. Louis Browns at home against the Philadelphia Athletics, and Wilson Alvarez did it in his second start on Aug. 11, 1991, for the Chicago White Sox at Baltimore.
“Now that I’m here, I feel like nothing can go wrong,” Buchholz said. “I’ll try to keep an even keel and remember it’s not that easy all the time.”
