ST. LOUIS - Last Saturday, David Buchanan looked like the pitcher who reeled off 16 straight starts without yielding more than three runs to end his rookie year in the big leagues.
He was mixing it up and pitching ahead in counts. He was aggressive and throwing his pitches with a purpose, including his changeup and a hard-biting curveball.
Buchanan took a shutout into the seventh inning of that game, but was pulled shortly after the inning began after allowing a leadoff home run and back-to-back two outs walks. The game quickly unraveled.
On Thursday, Buchanan did not look like the pitcher who had a 3.