And boy, do we mean kid. Can anyone else remember a pitcher looking as young as Clay Buchholz? He’s like a ginat, over-sized 13 year-old kid brother with filthy stuff. Filthy.

That was evident in the stares Buchholz got from Gary Matthews Jr. (where were the steroids chants Beantown? Come on! Forget Bonds, this guy got caught with shipment receipts!). His change up was devastating, his fastball had late life and his curve was effective. In short, Buchholz came as advertised.

Wily Mo Pena is a National. Thank God. We were all sitting on the edge or our seats about that, right?

Did he have significant hiccups along the way? Sure. Would J.D. Drew be covered in tar and feathers if the Sox hadn’t put up their offensive explosion? After that first inning error, he probably deserves it.

Of course, the aforementioned offensive explosion in the bottom of the first, of which Drew’s triple was a capstone, came at a pretty significant cost. Doug Mirabelli’s calf injury has him out of the night half of the doubleheader, and potentially more. As Mirabelli continues to find new ways to disappoint, the setback sent the Sox scrambling, with Theo Epstein eventually calling up Kevin Cash from Ottawa and delaying the activation of outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury until at least tomorrow.

Why Cash instead of more highly touted catching prospect George Kottaras? That has everything to do with the knuckleball. Cash has been catching career AAA knuckleballer Charlie Zink in Pawtucket for a couple of years, so his experience, as Mirabelli calls it, “catching a fly with a pair of chopsticks”, will be put to use should Dougie hit the 15-day DL.

Of course, that will allow Jason Varitek to avoid knuckleball duty, which is key to the success of the rest of the Sox staff. And ‘Tek’s mental health, for that matter.

It’s also not known what longer term implications of the catcher move will have on the potential arrival of Ellsbury. While Fenway Park was juiced for his return trip last night, it’s unknown whether it will be he or the other man rumored to be headed to Fenway - former A’s corner man Bobby Kielty - who gets the call up. We’re betting on Ellsbury over here, with Kielty eventually moving back up with September call-ups and then stealing a postseason roster spot to pinch hit.

Of course, that all assumes the Sox make it that far. If and when they do, they’ll be missing their favorite wild dog. The coyote was shipped to Washington just before Buchholz’s activation, where Wily Mo Pena should get more consistent at bats and an even worse park in which to try and hit home runs.

Josh Beckett goes tonight, which would be a good time for him to become the first 16 game-winner in the bigs. Let’s see if he can go where John Lackey has boldly failed just hours before.

Of course, that leads us to the moral of our story: Now is the optimal time to purchase your discounted Wily Mo t-shirts from the Souvenir Store on Yawkey Way. We’re sure that there’s plenty available. Until then, buckle up for a glorious Josh Beckett start. You know Varitek is. Afterwards, lets all hope he just slides right into a bathtub full of ice. Ouch, 17 innings of catching will do that to you.

– Cameron Smith