‘08 Game 21: Patriot’s Day
Clay Buchholz took the hill for the Red Sox on this Patriots’ Day/Marathon Monday and bounced back strong from his outing last week against NYY. With his 5 hit, no run performance, CB #61 notched his first win of the 2008 season and helped the Sox finish off their long weekend sweep of the Texas Rangers. The Sox are 1-3 in his 4 starts (the Sox are above .500 for each of the other 4 pitchers in the rotation).
The End Result:
The Sox sweep the Rangers, and now have a league-leading 14 wins. The sweep gives the Sox a season-long 5 game winning streak and 9 wins in their last 10, notching 5 QS during that stretch. In this series, the Sox overcame 2 quality starts by the Rangers. This game was the 5th time that the Sox hurler tossed a QS while the opponent pitcher did not. The Sox have won all 5 of these games.
| Red Sox Record: | 14-7 |
| Total Quality Starts: | 10 |
| Record in QS games: | 8-2 |
| Record in dual QS games: | 3-2 |
A Look Ahead:
Angels (12-8 ) at Red Sox (14-7) from Tuesday through Thursday. The Angels have 11 QS from their rotation in 20 games, while the Sox have 10 QS in 21 games. Two of the best teams in baseball, both leading their divisions, meet for three at Fenway Park. April or not this should be a good one as both are playing well after so-so starts.
The Angels will go with Jered Weaver (3 QS/4 starts) against Boston ace Josh Beckett (2 QS/3 starts), who beat the Yankees in his last two starts. Beckett was great in his last start against the Angels when he fired a complete-game, four-hitter in Game One of the Division Series.
Matsuzaka (2 QS/5 starts) will be gunning for his fifth win against Jon Garland (2 WS/4 GS) in the second game of the series while Angels lefty Joe Saunders (2 QS/4 GS) is matched against Jon Lester (2 QS/5 GS) in the finale.
