Red Sox Weekend Update

Daisuke will take the mound tomorrow night to start the 2008 season... again... but alot happened over the weekend, so let's recap:

The Japan trip took its toll on the Red Sox as they started their three game set against the Dodgers this weekend. The Sox mustered just 3 hits and 1 run in a 3-1 loss on Friday.

The good news in Bartolo Colon looked strong, fanning 4 and giving up just 3 hots and 1 run over 4 innings (60 pitches). The bad news... Varitek K'd three more times.

The Sox rebounded on Saturday with a 7-4 win in the Coliseum. Apparently being named Kevin gave you an edge that day, as the Sox took a 5-1 lead on homers from Kevin Cash and Kevin Youkilis.

Tim Wakefield went 5-plus, allowing an unearned run on five hits. He walked one and whiffed two.

On Sunday however, the Sox fell 8-0 as Clay Buchholz continued his roller coaster ride through Spring Training. Buchholz needed 36 pitches to get out of a jam in the 3rd inning. When the smoke cleared, it was 4-0.

Buchholz came out for the bottom of the fourth and walked the first two batters he faced before promptly being removed in place of Kyle Snyder.

"Going back out for the fourth inning, I felt like I let that last inning affect me," said Buchholz. "The [Boston hitters] got a quick inning and I felt myself still thinking about the last inning, and you can't do that going out on the field and having what happened the last inning enter your mind. Spring Training has been a learning experience for me throughout the whole deal, really."

Clay will get a start in Toronto next week, but he now has the very large shadow of Bartolo Colon looming over him...

JD Drew did not play this weekend and it remains to be seen if he will play against the A's on Tuesday. Tito is not amused:

"I definitely think he feels better," Francona said. "It puts me in a little bit of a bind. Again, I'm not pointing a finger. It makes it harder for me to make a judgment on, 'OK, first of all, is he ready to play? Is he ready to play and help us win?' We'll just continue to monitor. That's why I played Ellsbury in right so we can have kind of backup plan there."

After breaking up a no hitter on Sunday, Bobby Kielty was assigned to AAA Pawtucket by the Sox, but he may not accept:

"[On Saturday], I was pretty convinced I was going to Pawtucket," Kielty said. "But in the last 24 hours, things have changed a little bit. There's definitely something out there, it's just a matter of waiting and seeing what really happens. I don't really want to go anywhere, but we'll see. If it's a big league job somewhere, I might have to take it."

Josh Beckett will pitch in an interleague game on Tuesday as he prepares to make a start in Toronto next week.

The Red Sox grabbed another Japanese pitcher this weekend, signing the 26-year old right-hander Terumasa Matsuo. Pitching for the Kagawa Olive Guyners, Matsuo was the MVP of his league last season, going 15-3 with 159 strikeouts and a 1.72 ERA over 30 starts. In '06, Matsuo was 11-2 with a 1.82 ERA.

ps. I'm officially nick-naming this kid "Tiramisu."

Mike Timlin is now on the DL and will be eligible to pitch before the Toronto series. If Timlin and Beckett both return as planned, Bryan Corey, David Aardsma or Javier Lopez could find themselves with out a job...

That gets us caught up for now. Check back later for some Lunch Time Notes.