The Providence Journal
Steven Krasner - Buchholz still is learning his craft
The Sox have confidence that the rookie right-hander, who authored a no-hitter in his second big-league start last fall, will be a very good pitcher in the majors. It’s all about having Buchholz, who will turn 24 next month, fine-tune a few things before returning to Boston.
That includes dealing with whatever adversity might crop up in a game, such as a tight strike zone from the plate umpire.
Last night, in Pawtucket’s 5-2 loss to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at McCoy Stadium, Buchholz showed a bit of frustration when plate umpire Pete Pedersen didn’t give him a few calls.
The next thing Buchholz knew, Mike Cervenak pulled a hanging breaking ball for a run-scoring double in the third inning, and the next batter, Andy Tracy, clouted a three-run homer to left-center on a fat 93-mph fastball. Those hits turned a 2-0 Pawtucket lead into a 4-2 deficit.
Buchholz, who had been 4-0 with a 0.40 earned-run average in his last four starts, made it through five innings. He threw 88 pitches, hitting the organization’s goal of 60 percent fastballs (he threw 54, 61 percent), and wound up allowing five runs on six hits, including Cervenak’s opposite-field RBI single in the fifth.
Full Version: Sox Minor League News Links, Sun. July 6, 2008
Brendan McGair - Bump in road for Buchholz
PAWTUCKET – Clay Buchholz’s development is still ongoing. After all, he’s still in Triple-A.
Instead of ironing out his fastball command, which is the assignment the Red Sox gave Buchholz upon shipping him down, the prized right-hander was forced in his start Saturday night to learn how to channel his emotions when he’s getting squeezed.
A few pitches that appeared strikes from where Buchholz stood weren’t called, which led to some frustrating moments. It all played a role in a five-inning outing in which Buchholz was tagged for five runs on six hits in Pawtucket’s 5-2 loss to Lehigh Valley.
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Buchholz spent some time in manager Ron Johnson’s office before heading off into the night.
“This game is easy to play when things are going well,” said Johnson. “We’re here to expose guys to situations and to learn how to deal with [adversity].”
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Chris Carter put the PawSox 2-0 in a hurry with a two-run round tripper in the first. The shot was Carter’s 18th, his second in as many nights. Those were the only runs Lehigh Valley starter Travis Blackley would allow. Working seven innings, Blackley fanned eight and walked three.
Kevin Thomas - Comparisons can be deceiving, and this is a perfect example
Lester’s story in 2005 sounds similar to that of the latest Sea Dogs ace, Michael Bowden.
There is talk of Bowden going to Triple-A Pawtucket soon. It’s possible, but it’s not what the Red Sox did with their young pitching sensation in 2005.
A comparison of Lester and Bowden is easy to make.Unlike Jonathan Papelbon, Clay Buchholz and Justin Masterson, Lester and Bowden were drafted out of high school: Lester a second-rounder in 2002, Bowden a sandwich pick in ’02.
In 2005, Lester pitched in the shadows of another ace in Portland, Papelbon, who was called up to Boston that season. Still, Lester had a 6-2 record and 2.40 ERA after his July 5 start, totaling 901⁄3 innings.
The Red Sox eventually reduced Lester’s workload. He made only four starts in July and finished with 148 innings, going 11-6 with a 2.61 ERA. He was named to the Eastern League All-Star game, but did not pitch in it.In 2008, Bowden began the year in the shadow of Masterson, who made another start for the Red Sox on Saturday. After Bowden’s July 4 start, he is 8-4 with a 2.36 ERA in 991⁄3 innings.
Boston is already slowing Bowden, who threw 68 pitches in five innings Friday, and he likely will skip a start this month. He was picked for next week’s All-Star game, but we’ll see if he pitches.
Kevin Thomas - Pitching rules again, to Dogs? advantage; Portland holds Reading to one run for the second straight night as Dave Gassner gets his first win.
Gassner held the Reading Phillies to one run in six innings to pace Portland to a 5-1 victory before 7,109 at Hadlock Field.
Relievers Chad Rhoades and Mike James held Reading hitless for the last three innings.
The offense came courtesy of Mickey Hall and Tony Granadillo, who had an RBI double and solo home run, respectively, in the third inning, and Jeff Corsaletti, who hit a three-run homer in the eighth.
But the story was pitching, as Portland allowed the Phillies just one run for the second straight night. Gassner got his first win for the Sea Dogs. He is 1-4 with a 5.79 ERA since the Boston Red Sox signed him from an independent team in June.
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Reliever Joe Bisenius walked the first two batters in the eighth but got ahead of Corsaletti, 0-2. Corsaletti took a ball and fouled off three pitches before crushing a fastball over the right-field wall.
“He threw me a lot of sliders,” Corsaletti said. “I just hung in there until he made a mistake, and he left a fastball over the plate.”
Rhoades walked three in two innings but also struck out five. James pitched a perfect ninth.
Kevin Thomas - Look for the Sox to take
Clay Buchholz (5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 5 K) did not have his best outing for Pawtucket, although two walks is a good sign.
But one of those two walks was costly. With one runner on and two outs in the third inning, Buchholz walked a batter to keep the inning alive. He then gave up an RBI double and three-run homer.
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In Lancaster, Lars Anderson and Jason Place kept their recent spurts going. Anderson (.320) went 2-for-2 with his 11th homer. In the past 8 games, Anderson is hitting .483 (.15-31). Place went 2-for-3 and continues to push his average up (.254) after a slow start. Place is hitting .400 (16-40) in his last 8 games.
I have not mentioned Michael Jones? name in a while, but the Greenville first baseman is still hitting (.331). He was 3-for-4 Saturday.
Two recent draft picks are doing well:
Lowell reliever Seth Garrison, 22, pitched two scoreless innings (1 H, 1 BB). In 12 1/3 innings, he has a 0.73 ERA. Garrison was a 23rd-round pick out of Texas Christian.
Outfield Bryan Peterson, 18, an 11th-round pick out of West Valley High in Spokane, Wash., is one of the few high school players to sign so far. He went 3-for-3 Saturday in the Gulf Coast League, and is hitting .370 (10-27) in eight games.
Dan Goldberg - Province puts end to JetHawks' skid; Solid pitching, timely hitting equals victory
Chris Province threw five innings of two run ball, and the JetHawks received timely hitting from two players who were almost taken out of the game.
Jason Place, after being hit by a pitch in the third, doubled down the left field line in his next at bat. He moved to third on a wild pitch before Lars Anderson, who was nearly removed after Jermaine Mitchell collided with his glove hand, hit a sacrifice fly, giving the JetHawks a 3-2 fifth inning advantage.
It was Anderson's third RBI of the game - he drove in two with a third inning bases loaded single - that turned out to be the game-winner.
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When Province is at his best, he induces a lot of ground balls, weak bouncers to middle infielders.
So the omens looked good in the first two innings when he retired four consecutive batters on slow-rollers to second base.
His only trouble came in the fourth. An inning after being spotted a 2-0 lead, where he started 3-0 to leadoff batter Raul Padron, who eventually singled.
David Hood - Drive's ninth-inning rally falls short in homestand finale
The Drive had the winning run at the plate in the ninth, but were unable to capitalize, ending the seven-game home stand with a 2-5 record and losses in the last three.
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Greenville starter Terumasa Matsuo gave up a single run in the second inning. Jose Jimenez's two-run homer was part of a four-run fifth inning that saw Savannah grab a 5-2 lead. The Sand Gnats added a single run in the seventh to close out their scoring.
"We need to get more out of our starting pitching," Boles said after Matsuo gave up five earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. "If it's not one night with the starting pitching, it's our bullpen. We need to get consistent on both ends with our starting pitching and relief. Matsuo lost his command a little bit and elevated some pitches in the zone."
Jones led off the bottom of the eighth with his fifth home run of the season, a line drive that cleared the wall in right-center. In the bottom of the ninth, Ryan Kalish was hit by a pitch with two out and Navarro drilled a two-run homer to right to trim the deficit to the final of 6-5.
The next batter was Jones, and he was walked, but Jered Stanley, the leading home-run hitter for the Drive, struck out to end the game.
The Lowell Sun
Carmine Frongillo - Burgos uses bat and legs to lift Spinners
LOWELL -- Ricardo Burgos has a body built for power, not speed.
The Lowell Spinners' first baseman is going to beat teams with his bat much more often than with his feet.
But with the game on the line Burgos, listed at 5-foot-10, 175-pounds, legged out a win for the Spinners.
Burgos, who smacked a 2-run homer off the giant Hood milk bottle in center in the first inning, was running on the pitch and scored all the way from first on Luis Sumoza's two-out double to left in the bottom of the eighth that lifted Lowell past the Jamestown Jammers, 4-3, yesterday at LeLacheur Park.
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A big home run swing by Burgos in the bottom of the first staked the Spinners to an early 2-0 lead. Burgos went 2-for-2 with 2 walks and scored 3 of Lowell's runs while raising his batting average to .259.
"He's a very patient hitter," said DiSarcina. "He has good body strength when it comes to hitting. He's not the most impressive looking guy. But when he comes through his swing, he has balance and he has power. And he's been showing a good eye at the plate, too. We're very happy with him."
Reliever Seth Garrison (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings while earning the win for Lowell (10-9).
Carmine Frongillo - Burgos uses bat and legs to lift Spinners
LOWELL -- Ricardo Burgos has a body built for power, not speed.
The Lowell Spinners' first baseman is going to beat teams with his bat much more often than with his feet.
But with the game on the line Burgos, listed at 5-foot-10, 175-pounds, legged out a win for the Spinners.
Burgos, who smacked a 2-run homer off the giant Hood milk bottle in center in the first inning, was running on the pitch and scored all the way from first on Luis Sumoza's two-out double to left in the bottom of the eighth that lifted Lowell past the Jamestown Jammers, 4-3, yesterday at LeLacheur Park.
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A big home run swing by Burgos in the bottom of the first staked the Spinners to an early 2-0 lead. Burgos went 2-for-2 with 2 walks and scored 3 of Lowell's runs while raising his batting average to .259.
"He's a very patient hitter," said DiSarcina. "He has good body strength when it comes to hitting. He's not the most impressive looking guy. But when he comes through his swing, he has balance and he has power. And he's been showing a good eye at the plate, too. We're very happy with him."
Reliever Seth Garrison (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings while earning the win for Lowell (10-9).
Tony Graham - On the Farm: RBC grad Kalish excited for homecoming
The Drive, the low Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox based in Greenville, N.C., begin a four-game series in Lakewood on Friday at 7:05 p.m.
"Playing in front of everybody at home is going to be awesome,'' said Kalish, the No. 6 ranked prospect in the Boston organization by Baseball America.
"There's going to be a ton of people coming that I've known, and my family and everything so I'm really excited to be coming home,'' he said.
The left-handed hitting Kalish, selected in the ninth round of the 2006 First Year Player Draft, was red-hot (.368) in the New York Penn League last summer before suffering a fractured hamate bone in his right hand on July 16.
This season started slowly for Kalish, who said for a while he was batting under .200. But over a five-game stretch ending on Friday night, Kalish went 8-for-20 (.400) including his 10th double of the season.
Brian Heyman - Dominican graduate Gilardo changes loyalties
These days, the 22-year-old Cornwall High alum is in his second season with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox in Fort Myers, Fla.
"They've been toying with the idea that I might also pitch," Gilardo said. "I haven't pitched yet, but I've been catching and I'm kind of in the back end of the bullpen if they need me. I'm kind of up for anything."
There have been questions about whether the 6-foot, 207-pound righty batter will hit enough in the pros. He batted .316 with four homers and 20 RBI in 35 games as a senior at his Division II school, then .255 with a homer and three RBI in 20 games with his GCL team last summer, although he was at .393 over his final nine games.
Gilardo was at .300 - 3 for 10 - over his five games through Thursday for the short-season rookie-ball team. He says the issue of pitching or catching could be resolved after the season.
"It depends right now if my swing keeps coming around - it's gotten a lot better - and I continue to hit," Gilardo said. "They like how I am defensively behind the plate."
GULF COAST LEAGUE; Peterson leads Red Sox to win
SARASOTA — - Bryan Peterson went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a single to help the Red Sox beat the Reds 5-2 on Saturday at Ed Smith Complex.
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Michael Ozir got the win in relief pitching five innings, allowing two hits, no walks, and striking out none.
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