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Red Sox Rookie Buchholz No-Hits O's

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By HOWARD ULMAN The Associated Press

Published: September 2, 2007

BOSTON - The call-up came up with all zeros.

Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter in his second major-league start, just hours after the Red Sox promoted him from the minors.

The 23-year-old righty became the first Red Sox rookie to throw one, baffling Baltimore with an assortment of curves, change-ups and fastballs in a 10-0 victory.

'I sort of tried to zone everything out, but it was sort of hard with 40,000 people screaming,' he said. 'I'm in a blur right now.'

The crowd stood through the entire ninth inning, cheering every pitch and taking pictures of the young righty in his windup and as he paced around the mound between pitches. A groan rose from the stands when Corey Patterson hit a line drive to center with one out, but Coco Crisp easily moved over to catch it.

Buchholz started Nick Markakis with a ball, then went ahead 1-2 when the batter fouled one off with a check swing. The crowd grew even louder, the flashes were constant, and Buchholz threw a 77 mph curveball that Markakis watched go by.

Plate umpire Joe West hesitated, but catcher Jason Varitek rose from his crouch to run to the mound. The rest of the Red Sox soon joined him there.

No one stopped cheering until Buchholz appeared on the center field scoreboard for a television interview, and the fans hushed to try to hear him. But when 'Clay Buchholz, No-hitter' appeared on the message board, the ballpark erupted anew.

Buchholz, who turned 23 on Aug. 14, pitched the third no-hitter of the season - following Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox on April 18 and Justin Verlander of Detroit on June 12.

Buchholz became the 17th rookie to throw a no-hitter. The last one to do it was Florida's Anibal Sanchez against Arizona last Sept. 6.

Buchholz became the third pitcher since 1900 to throw a no-hitter in his first or second major-league start. Bobo Hollomon did it in his first start on May 6, 1953, for the St. Louis Browns; Wilson Alvarez did it in his second on Aug. 11, 1991, for the White Sox.

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