Buchholz shows some control

A Sea Dog, not a Sox, Clay Buchholz gave up three earned runs but had no walks in 7 innings. (Joel Page/Associated Press)

PORTLAND, Maine - Forget for a moment that he was facing Double A hitters, and not the big league lineups that have left him flummoxed and forlorn.

Clay Buchholz, toiling in a Portland Sea Dogs uniform, showed once more (and perhaps showed himself) that he has dominating stuff.

Seeing his first action since being sent down by the Red Sox to work with Sea Dogs pitching coach Mike Cather, Buchholz handled himself and manhandled New Britain hitters for most of his seven-inning stint last night.

Buchholz allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits, fanned eight, and didn't walk anyone. As often as not, he showed command of his repertoire, especially his offspeed selection of curveballs and changeups.

Although he departed with a 5-4 lead, he did not factor in the decision, a 6-5 Portland loss.

"I felt really good," Buchholz said. "There were a lot of mechanical things that I've been thinking about, that I didn't try to think about. I went back to what I did last year when I was here. They seemed to work real well for me. So I tried to revert back to that a little bit."

Buchholz had six strong innings and one rocky one, the third, when New Britain touched him for three runs on three hits.

While velocity never seemed to be an issue - he topped out at 95 m.p.h. on at least four occasions - Buchholz seemed to be in better command of his curveball.

"It's a good pitch," said Buchholz, "when I have the confidence enough to throw it. That's what I've been lacking a little bit."

Five of his strikeouts came via his familiar "12-to-6" bender, arcing in the high 70s, with two more coming on changeups. And all but one came on swinging third strikes, an indication of how tantalizing those offerings were.

Buchholz was a little shaky out of the gate, throwing three straight balls (all fastballs) to New Britain leadoff man Matt Tolbert (who is down from Minnesota on injury rehab).

He came back to square the count, then got Tolbert to hit an easy grounder to second.

Buchholz breezed through the second (issuing a seeing-eye single to Australian Daniel Berg), but struggled the next inning, when the Rock Cats, sitting on a stream of fastballs, opened with singles by Radolfo Palacios and Brandon Roberts, then got an RBI double by Tolbert.

Buchholz was nicked for two more runs before the inning was over, then settled down.

"The third inning seems to be my nemesis this whole year," Buchholz said. "But it wasn't as bad. I wasn't out there thinking, 'Oh, here it goes again.' I left a couple balls over the middle of the plate and they hit them."

At one point, Buchholz set down nine Rock Cats in order, fanning four of them.

That string ended in the sixth, when Danny Valencia's fly ball to center was misplayed into a two-run error. That was followed by Dustin Martin's RBI double to shallow center.

Buchholz finished off the night - Clay Buchholz Bobblehead Night, as fortune would have it - by setting down the final five Rock Cats he faced.

"It felt like when I committed to a pitch, they either hit it weakly or didn't hit it at all," he said. "It's coming along."

Buchholz's next start is Saturday, when the Dogs, who are in the thick of the Eastern League playoff race, will host New Hampshire.