Excitement slightly raised by Red Sox mound pair

The Orioles were the team against which Buchholz had his greatest day as a major leaguer - a Sept. 1, 2007, no-hitter. And the stadium was where Kelly led Sarasota High to the ’07 Florida 6A state championship against Deland with a 1-0 two-hitter that folks here still talk about.

Buchholz, looking heavier and sporting a new No. 11 on the back of his jersey, allowed three runs on five hits in two innings. Kelly, who got the win, threw a scoreless seventh and eighth against scrubs who couldn’t have hit him with 20 bats.

“Very good poise, threw all his pitches,’’ said Sox manager Terry Francona about Kelly, who also drew raves from plate umpire John Hirschbeck, who comment ed to catcher Mark Wagner about Kelly.

Although Buchholz wasn’t hit hard, he left a couple of his pitches up. Still, nobody was concerned about the player who appears destined for the No. 4 spot in the Sox rotation. Asked whether Buchholz is a sure thing for the spot, Francona didn’t want to show his hand yet, but his comments led one to believe that Buchholz can be penciled in.

“We basically have six guys,’’ Francona said. “They all look healthy, really productive. Daisuke is a couple of weeks behind, but we think of Clay being in our rotation for years and we think that’s going to happen. I don’t think it’s important for us to tell him the first day of spring training where he’s going to pitch. I think we all want him to take this and go with it.’’

He didn’t really do that yesterday, but no worries.

Buchholz had a great spring last season and he wound up going back to Pawtucket. The Sox used veterans such as Brad Penny and John Smoltz in the rotation while Buchholz lit it up in Pawtucket. When he finally got his chance to come to Boston and become a permanent member of the rotation, Buchholz didn’t let anyone down. He went 7-4 with a 4.21 ERA in 16 starts and also pitched decently in the playoffs against the Angels, allowing two runs over five innings in a no-decision.

Buchholz has had a lot of ups and downs since that no-hitter. He did a lot of growing up. He got married. He gained weight, with 195 pounds now on his 6-foot-3-inch frame.