The other day a colleague asked me why he was hearing so much talk on Boston sports radio about trading Clay Buchholz. His thought that with Buchholz pitching well and the Red Sox climbing back into the race, trading away a potential ace was a poor idea.

My answer was that it could be the Red Sox front office might believe that the probability of winning was low, and trading Buchholz while his value was high would get them prospects they could use soon.

That all went out the window Friday night when Buchholz left the game:

Starting for the Red Sox against the Yankees tonight, Buchholz allowed a homer to Alex Rodriguez in the first inning and cruised along until the fourth as the Yankees held a 1-0 lead. But his velocity appeared to drop 2-3 mph off his season average in the fourth inning, and in the middle of a 1-1 count to Stephen Drew, catcher Sandy Leon charged out to the mound. He talked with Buchholz briefly, then motioned for manager John Farrell.

Farrell ran to the mound along with the trainer, and while it appeared Buchholz signaled that he was fine, Farrell whistled to the dugout and signaled for Robbie Ross Jr. to enter the game from the bullpen.

I was listening to the game in the car, and the Red Sox radio announcers noticed that Clay was leaving a number of pitches up, and the Yankees were picking up hits against him. At the time he left, the A-Rod homer was the only run against him, but he ended up being charged with three runs. We’ll see how bad he is injured.