Wonder Boy and the Power Surge

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Buchholz outduels Halladay, Sox Beat Jays 6-1.

The home runs provided more than enough offense: JBay hit a 2-run bomb and Victor NoLastNameNeededI'mTheOnlyFamousVictor and David Ortiz both added solo shots. Papi continued his late-season resurgence by homering in his third straight game.

On a rare off-night for Roy Halladay, Clay Buchholz shined for the Sox. He allowed one run by scattering six hits through six innings

Boston Globe game report.
Herald game report.


Playoff Report:
1st- AL Wild Card
2nd- AL East

The Sox remain 7 games behind the Yanks after they beat Oakland 3-2 behind a Candy Texiera 2-run homer.
After Texas fell, 5-4, to The Joe Mauer Show, the Sox took over the Wild Card lead by one game. The Rays remain 3 games behind the Sox after beating Baltimore.

More on WonderBoy:
Clay Buchholz has finally arrived, it seems. Though not 100% consistent, Clay has quietly pitched well this season and has developed into a very sold #4, or even #3, starter. Should he continue to develop at this pace, he may actually reach the level of his absurd hype.

So far this season WonderBoy (2-3, 3.99ERA) has given up more than three runs only once. He has 24 strikeouts in 38 innings, and his WHIP is a manageable 1.70. He needs to work on pitch counts and stamina, he's only lasted 7 innings once, but he'll get there. For my money, when Wakefield gets off the DL it'll make things interesting for Tito. They'll most likely option Tazawa back to Pawtucket even though Brad Penny might be most deserving of a little sit-down.

INTERESTING FACT: WonderBoy is secretly Canadian. Proof? His two wins this season have come against the Jays. (2-0, 1.54ERA, 7K) And both times he's beaten Roy Halladay. Good thing the Sox didn't trade WonderBoy from that slacker.

3 Strikes:

• The Providence Journal says the present outdeuled the future.

A little pre-mature, no?

• WEEI says this isn't the same Buchholz we saw last year.

Yeah, he's good.

• Mike Reiss has 5 things to watch in the Pat's pre-season game tonight.

I'll be happy watching Tom Brady ride the pine, thank you very much.

Favorites: Chad Finn is the best Boston sports writer/commenter out there. And he writes about Remy's impending return to the broadcast booth (just in time to face the MFY!) He's also got a new blog post on the best Boston sports blog, besides this one.

Tonight:
Lester takes the hill and looks to sweep the Jays ahead of what will prove to be a crucial series at home against Darth Vader and the Comeback Kids.

Bos (68-51)
Lester (9-7, 3.71ERA)

at

Tor (55-63)
Cecil (5-1, 4.35)

*image from wikipedia commons