The Year of the Pitcher - Buchholz and Masterson

What a night for New England fans clicking from the Bruins Lightening Stanley Cup playoff game number four to the Red Sox game where Clay Buchholz faced the Tribe's Justin Masterson; Masterson and Bucholz, both sporting their playoff hockey beards pitched a great game. With more aggressive drug testing MLB and the rise of great young pitchers throughout the MLB it has become the year of the pitcher. Last night was a mix of great pitching and some great hitting.A pitcher's duel or maybe better described as a duel draw. Masterson pitched 7 2/3 innings, Buchholz 7 1/3 innings, Masterson and Buchholz each allowed 2 earned runs, both men allowed 4 hits and 2 walks, Masterson struck out 3 and Buchholz punched out 4. A shame that Masterson neither ace got the decision.

This game epitomizes how the absence of "steroids" has changed baseball; pitching, especially young pitching now dominates the game. A team like the Tampa Bay Rays with good young pitching and timely hitting has kept the struggling Yankees and slow starting Bosox from dominating the American League East. Last night the starting pitchers were equal almost to a pitch, both teams matched home runs, and in the end the Indian's Joe Smith was just that much better than the Red Sox's closer Daniel Bard who has struggled this season to find his pitching grove. Pitching will separate the great teams from the very good teams. Last night the Red Sox pitching and Bard were not good enough. 

When the Sox signed Carl Crawford I was temporarily reconciled to the loss of Victor Martinez. When Crawford plays and hits well as he did last night I begin to forget what an important part of the Sox's success came from V-Mart's play behind the plate and as a big bat. Perhaps Crawford will help us forget.

Last night was fun. What a night for New England fans clicking from the Bruins Lightening Stanley Cup playoff game number four to the Red Sox game where Clay Buchholz faced the Tribe's Justin Masterson; Masterson and Bucholz, both sporting their playoff hockey beards pitched a great game. With more aggressive drug testing MLB and the rise of great young pitchers throughout the MLB it has become the year of the pitcher. Last night was a mix of great pitching and some great hitting.