- Kevin Tall
- Stock photo
Any time the opposing baseball team flips their lineup twice over three innings, something is wrong with your starting pitcher.
When that starting pitcher is the Tampa Bay Rays' David Price, the odds of recovery improve.
When that opposing team is the Boston Red Sox—atop the American League East division—with Clay Buchholz on the mound, the odds get bleaker.
Such was the tale of game three against Boston Thursday night. After the clubs swapped complete-game shutouts—which is apparently the thing to do these days—the rubber match offered a powerful pitching duel between Price and Buchholz.
The problem?
Price geared up for an all-out war but forgot to bring his Big Gun.
Absent from Thursday evening's showdown was the overpowering fastball Price has used time and again to dominate opposing batters. Gone too was the command Rays fans had come to expect from the fiery lefty.
This article appears in Jun 16-22, 2011.