July 18. ANAHEIM -- The Disneyland Angels pounded Clay Buccholz for eight runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings in his second start since returning from the minors. Four of the runs against the right-hander were unearned, the result of a two-out fielding error by Alex Cora on Torii Hunter's slow grounder to shortstop in the fifth.
It was time for another of our famous 'Manny being Manny' moments. Manny Ramirez, whose defensive play in left field has always been a cause for concern for the Red Sox, misplayed what appeared to be a bloop RBI single by Maicer Izturis into a triple during a three-run sixth that extended the Angels' lead to 11-3.
The 12-time All-Star made a futile dive for a ball he had no chance of catching, then stumbled as he went to retrieve it -- and ended up rolling over onto the baseball. Ramirez finally relayed it back to the infield a few seconds later and broke into a huge grin that didn't exactly mirror the pained expression on manager Terry Francona's face.
"It's not an error, but I think I made the bloopers for life," Ramirez said. "I had a bad jump, but I still went for it. I missed the ball and that was it. I felt like I was swimming in a swamp right there."
Buchholz is 0-3 with a 10.00 ERA in his last four starts. He made his big league debut against the Angels last Aug. 17 at Boston and beat Lackey 8-4. Two weeks later, he pitched a no-hitter against Baltimore in his next outing. But in 12 starts with the Red Sox since, he is 3-6 with a 5.28 ERA.
Buchhol threw 37 of his 83 pitches in the first inning while the Angels grabbed a 3-0 lead.
Maybe Masterson won't come back as a MIDDLE RELIEVER after all or somebody else will probably fill that #5 slot in the rotation. Never know. We can't horse around. (buck - holz)
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