For his first few starts of the spring, Clay Buchholz had been one of Boston's strongest pitchers. But a bad day at the mound marred especially by a pair of homers left the Red Sox looking up at the Orioles after nine innings, 6-5 losers.
The troubles would start quickly for Buchholz when, with two out and one on in the first when Adam Jones caught hold of one and sent it deep to left field for the first two runs of the game.
The Sox would fight back in the top of the second, scoring twice to tie the game, but Jose Iglesias would strike out to leave the bases loaded--a missed opportunity that would come to haunt the Sox later.
While Buchholz managed to buckle down in the second, he would again find himself in trouble come the third. Despite working around a leadoff walk by inducing a ground ball for the double play, Buchholz would allow a double to Nick Johnson, and then his second home run of the game--this time to Nick Markakis--to put the Orioles back up by two.
The Orioles would score again in the fourth on doubles from Mark Reynolds and Robert Andino to leave Clay with five runs allowed at the end of his five inning appearance.
The Red Sox would finally get back in it come the late innings, scoring a run in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth mostly on singles. But with the Orioles already having added a sixth run in the bottom half of the sixth off of Mark Melancon, the Sox came up one run short when all was said and done.
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