The bright side of my baseball day is that Lowrie will continue to play. Poor Clay - but he has a few months to figure it out. Maybe he should practice pitching with the bases loaded to let him know that recording an out is possible even with runners on base.

Yeah, he'll be okay. Just needs some more time.

ohh.. am so happy to hear that bitchholz is going back to AA. I never liked him. I am soooooooo happy and then to hear that lugo isn't coming back anytime soon is the like a cherry on top the best sundae ever!!!

"Bitchholz" now? Oh for the love of... grow up, people.

"I've never been one to say that pressure is too much for me, but I've felt like I've had a lot of weight on my shoulders just trying to be perfect and trying to things as well as I could to help this team win," said Buchholz. "I knew a decision was coming and it had to be made soon. They have given me ample opportunity to help this team, and myself, it just hasn't worked out. . . As close as this pennant race is now you have to send guys out there who you know will go out there and give you a win. I hate to say it was the right decision, but I believe it was."

You're right, Gigi, WHAT A BITCH. Jeez. How could anybody LIKE this guy? I'm surprised his parents will even look at him.

COME ON people....

i love lugo! how can you diss a player that wants to be in boston and tries his hardest...even if his hardest is bad.
its not like we pay him dice-k's salary. if we did that and he messed up, i could understand why you all would say "ugo isn't coming back anytime soon is the like a cherry on top the best sundae ever!!!"

on a side note--actually its not a side note. it pertains to this. -- i tried to get a lugo shirt at fenway and they said they were all sold out...but im pretty sure they dont make many. :(

Lugo's best may be an idiot, but I can't fault him for it. I like Lowrie a lot and all, but I wish I could see Lugo redeem himself just once, ya know? *shrugs shoulders* I mean we've had some guys whose best is an idiot who have come through before.

As for Clay -- it's the right choice. Clay needs to work on some things. I have faith in him as a starter and I think he'll be okay. What he needs is the faith in himself and his abilities. He doesn't have any confidence at least that's the vibe I get from him. To make it as a player you need to believe in yourself and have confidence (which is why I'd fail miserably at the game because I have no confidence in myself...for the most part).

Clay reminds me of Derek Lowe in a way. He gets flustered pretty easily like Lowe, and then his mind takes over and things just go haywire. Lowe did the same thing especially as a closer. I mean we saw that too. Something goes wrong with Clay, he's done. Ditto with Lowe. It's not really mechanics with them though, it's their minds. You could have all the ability in the world but not be able to put it together for whatever reasons. It's the case of the million dollar arm and five cent head (credit to David McCarty for that line, originally said about Daniel Cabrera). But Lowe, when the going got tough and you were facing all kidns of hell, he rose up and was awesome. In order for Lowe to really succeed, as we learned during the playoffs in 03 and 04, if you hold Lowe against the fire and basically tell him "Pitch well or you go home", he can pass with flying colors. Hopefully that can be the case with Clay if he gets a little more confidence in him.

I'm just rambling now...

Bitchholz is uncalled fore and definately not necessarily. Show some sympathy for the poor kid. It's not like he's not trying, he's just not pitching good.

As for Lugo, he is making ALOT of money. And the fact that a rookie who isnt making nearly as much as Lugo is making, plays alot better than him, is pretty bad.

I hope Clay can get his act together and come back next year. He and Lester are a nice young tandem to have in the rotation. I hope that he can get things figured out in the off season.

I'll be honest; I've never particularly warmed up to Clay and I was definitely wishing he'd be sent back to the farm system last night. It kills me to see him pitching so poorly, mainly because everyone knows that something is not right. I hope he gets things squared away in Portland and get's his confidence back.

I feel so bad for Clay and I was really trying to will him to get better. it sucks to fail on a huge stage like Fenway. but I don't know how much time he'll get in AA - their season ends soon. maybe he'll figure it out in the offseason. I hope so - he is amazingly talented and I'd hate to see them lose him. He just has to get back to the mindset he was in when he threw the no-hitter. poor guy is going to be haunted by that for the rest of his career.

I'm thrilled Lowrie gets more playing time, and yet I feel bad for Lugo. He obviously want to play and tries his best when he does...it just isn't working. It must be tough, sitting on the bench and watching your replacement lighting it up when you can't.

Yes, Clay needs to go down. It sucks throwing a no-hitter on your second MLB start. The expectation (and the pressure) go waaay high.

"Bitchholz?" Wow, he may not be pitching well but since when has he been "bitchy?"

Anyway, about that Lugo-love comment. First off, I don't care if he tries his hardest if he sucks. He's had one or two good seasons since 2000 and none of them have been here in Boston. Secondly, yea Dice-K gets paid a lot of money. But then the guy goes out there and puts up numbers (15-2) that may get him a few Cy Young votes. Lowrie is making a fraction of Lugo's salary ($9 million this year) and plays a thousand times better. He's hitting .315, has more RBIs, and no errors.

Anonymous, if you happen to see this: You can get Lugo shirts on Amazon.com -- I know this because I happen to love him too despite his shortcomings, so I have a couple of his shirts. I realize that I should be banished to some faraway island for this transgression, but I admire his tenacity and determination. He really does try very hard, and don't think for a minute that it doesn't eat at him that he can never seem to get it right. Actually, I read awhile back that he's on ulcer medication, which tells me that he's pretty stressed out.

As for Clay, I feel really badly for him, but I think going to Portland is for the best at this point.

OMG! It's about time they sent him back down! I realize the guy threw a no hitter, but

1. Any no hitter is the product of a lot of luck ( some more than others)
2. He did it against the Orioles, for god's sake. Give me a break!
3. What in the heck has he done since besides royally suck and lose 9 out of 11 decisions?

I think they should have offered him in the Santana trade in the spring when they still had the chance, or maybe sent him off the the Dodgers with Manny as a bonus...

Anyway, I'm just glad they're rid of him at least for now.

maybe Clay will pull a Cliff Lee, who you guys might remember had a horrible season last year, and come back and win the Cy Young next year. let's stay hopeful!

maybe calling him bitchholz was uncalled for but I don't care I never liked him from the very beginning and same thing goes for Lugo. I never liked them. I don't care how good or how bad they are playing. flat out I don't like them and never will. the only good thing that Lugo done for the team was to get hurt and allow Lowrie to take over.
and also... I don't like coco.

um..why? did Buchholz cut you off in traffic or something, Gigi? did Coco foreclose on your house? why so much hatred toward certain players?