Buchholz' Meltdown Leads To Third Straight Loss (59-65)

Buchholz allowed seven runs

Every once in a while, even your ace is allowed a rough start and Clay Buchholz certainly had one last night. Buchholz and Jered Weaver both held the opposition scoreless for the first two innings but the Angels got going in the third inning. This all started when Maicer Izturis and Erick Aybar each singled to put runners at first and third. The consecutive hits continued as Chris Iannetta drove in a run and moved Aybar to third with a soft single to right field. The next play was sort of a win-win for both sides as Mike Trout grounded into a double play, but allowed a run to score and make it 2-0 in the process. The fourth also started off well for the Angels as Albert Pujols started things off with a leadoff double. They scored one when Mark Trumbo singled up the middle, but he was caught stealing later. They scored their next run after a two-out double by Howie Kendrick and RBI single by Maicer Izturis to make it 4-0.

Lavarnway had an RBI double

However, the Red Sox answered in the bottom of the fourth-- starting with a two out single by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. He scored when Ryan Lavarnway doubled off the wall in left-center to get the Red Sox on the board. Lavarnway scored on a double off the monster by Mike Aviles that looked like a home run off the bat, but would cut it to a 4-2 deficit. However, the Angels just kept rolling right along in the sixth inning-- starting with a one out solo home run over the deep part of the monster by Howie Kendrick. After that, Maicer Izturis and Erick Aybar put together back-to-back singles again. The Angels would actually load the bases on a single by Mike Trout before a two-run single by Torii Hunter really put the Red Sox away at 7-2. The Red Sox scored once more on an RBI double by Cody Ross, but a disappointing night regardless.

Bright Spots:
Junichi Tazawa- 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 K
Mark Melancon- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Scott Podsednik- 3-5, 1 SB
Dustin Pedroia- 1-4, 1 R, 2 SB
Ryan Lavarnway- 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:
Clay Buchholz- 5.1 IP, 12 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 3 K, L (11-4)
Adrian Gonzalez- 0-5, 1 K, 4 LOB

Player of the Game:
Scott Podsednik- Podsednik did a great job as a leadoff man and catalyst in a losing effort, going 3-5 with 3 singles and a steal-- he is now .370/1/8.