Dazzler in the Downpour
The day may have been a murky day marred by two rain delays but Clay Buchholz’s supreme skill outshone the showers. “Buch-nasty” (as he was dubbed by Mike Cameron) pitched only six innings but that was with a 1 hour, 44 minute delay of first pitch and a 59-minute rain delay called in the top of the third. While he allowed five hits and three bases on balls he struck out seven and didn’t allow any extra base hits.
Both relievers, Daniel Bard and Felix Doubront, also stifled the Blue Jays batters, allowing just three baserunners between them. Jose Molina represented the final out of the game but was hit by a pitch with the count 0-2. The Blue Jays catcher seemed to want to make something of it, but if he thinks anyone let alone a rookie would intentionally plunk him in such a situation he needs to book some time with a therapist to discuss his persecution complex. It’s not like the name “Overbay” was on the back of his jersey.
Replacing Jacoby Ellsbury in the speed department was David Ortiz. The fleet-footed designated hitter sprinted around the horn while Vernon Wells and Fred Lewis chased after the ball in deep center. Ortiz nimbly slid into third for a leadoff triple and scored the first run of the game on Adrian Beltre’s rope off the wall. Ellsbury should be wary, not just of his ribs but also of his single-season stolen base franchise record: “Wheels Ortiz” is on the warpath.
One would think that the rain delay would deaden the senses, but such an assumption didn’t apply to Bill Hall. Adam Lind, the first batter to take the box after the delay, starched a shot to shallow left. Hall charged the missile and dove head-first just in time to glove the final out of the inning.
Hall worked the other side of the ball as well, lofting a rainbow over the wall in the fifth inning. Double rainbow, all the way across the sky. What does this mean?
| Game 125: August 22, 2010 | ||
| Blue Jays 64-59 | 0 | L: Shaun Marcum (11-7) |
| No extra base hits. | ||
 Red Sox71-54 | 5 | W: Clay Buchholz (15-5) H: Daniel Bard (27) S: Felix Doubront (2) |
| 2B: Adrian Beltre (37), Ryan Kalish (2) 3B: David Ortiz (1) HR: Bill Hall (17) | ||
