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BOSTON -- Clay Buchholz, the longest-tenured member of the Boston Red Sox pitching staff, has been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league second baseman Josh Tobias, the teams announced Tuesday.The Red Sox picked up their $13.5 million option on Buchholzs contract at the end of last season, but there was always a possibility he could be traded in the offseason. It became almost inevitable two weeks ago after the Red Sox completed a blockbuster trade for ace left-hander Chris Sale, giving Boston seven major league starting pitchers.Although the Red Sox could have opted to trade lefty Drew Pomeranz -- and would have obtained a greater return for him by virtue of his lower salary and a contract that is controllable through 2018 -- multiple teams that spoke with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski during and after the winter meetings suggested he strongly preferred to move Buchholz, who is eligible for free agency after this season. The Phillies agreed to pay his 2017 salary, which also decreased the prospect value the Red Sox received.When it came down to it, as we looked under all scenarios, the deal that made the most sense was dealing Clay, Dombrowski said. The others have some longer time with us as far as being with the organization. We have longer control over them. Hes in his last year, the dollar perspective. It was really our choice to pursue this one rather than some of the other guys.Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said on a conference call that the team had asked the Red Sox about Buchholz as far back as last July, before the trading deadline, because they viewed him as a potential bounce-back candidate even before his second-half resurgence.Theres no such thing as too much starting pitching, Klentak said. Ive been saying all offseason that if an opportunity makes sense, we would explore that. And the Buchholz acquisition reflects that. This wasnt necessarily a position we were trying to fill, but we felt the opportunity was right.Klentak also mentioned Buchholzs history with Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure, who once held the same position with the Red Sox until he was fired in 2012.Clay is very excited to be reunited with Bob, Klentak said.Buchholz spent 10 seasons with the Red Sox, and expectations for him were impossibly high from almost the day he was drafted with the compensatory first-round pick obtained when Pedro Martinez signed with the New York Mets. The bar was raised even higher on Sept. 1, 2007, when Buchholz no-hit the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park in only his second career start.Dogged by injuries, Buchholz made frequent trips to the disabled list. He never pitched more than 189? innings in a season and averaged only 140 innings per season from 2010 to 16.He thought maybe it also was a spot where he gets a change of scenery, fresh opportunity, Dombrowski said of Buchholz. Not always a bad thing, as he mentioned.Buchholz also outlasted high-profile starters Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester and John Lackey in Boston. He wound up going 81-61 with a 3.96 ERA in 206 appearances (188 starts). In six career postseason starts, Buchholz was 0-1 with a 4.25 ERA. Save for the no-hitter, Buchholzs crowning moment with the Red Sox was arguably grinding through a shoulder injury to pitch four innings in Game 4 of the 2013 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, a series the Red Sox won in six games.Without Buchholz, Bostons rotation consists of Sale and David Price, reigning Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello, Pomeranz, lefty Eduardo Rodriguez and knuckleballer Steven Wright. By subtracting Buchholz, the Red Sox also nearly offset the combined 2017 commitments for luxury tax purposes to newly acquired Sale, reliever Tyler Thornburg and first baseman Mitch Moreland, leaving them more likely to avoid going over the tax threshold for a third consecutive season.Tobias, 24, hit .291 with 9 home runs and 69 RBIs last season in two stops in the Phillies minor league system. He finished the season at Clearwater, Philadelphias affiliate in the Class A Florida State League.Buchholz joins a Phillies rotation led by 2011 American League Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson, who was 12-10 with a 3.71 ERA last season. The right-hander accepted the teams qualifying offer of $17.2 million earlier this offseason.The rotation is also expected to include right-handers Jerad Eickhoff (11-14, 3.65 ERA in 2016), Vince Velasquez (8-6, 4.12 ERA) and Aaron Nola (6-9, 4.78 ERA).The Phillies already had seven pitchers on their roster who made at least 10 starts in the major leagues last season, so the trade for Buchholz will bump one of their young starters -- likely Jake Thompson, Zach Eflin or Alec Asher -- out of the rotation.The Phillies now have signed five players this offseason -- Buchholz, Howie Kendrick, Pat Neshek, Joaquin Benoit and Hellickson -- who are on the last year of their contract, which could put them in position to be one of baseballs most active sellers before the trading deadline.ESPNs Jayson Stark contributed to this report. Darius Leonard Colts Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. 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On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Lords, 1982. Pakistans target to win the Test is a simple 76. Pakistan dont do simple. They do complex and unfathomable. Its the final session of the Test and rain clouds rush towards St Johns Wood. Pakistan last won a Test in England 28 years earlier - Fazal Mahmoods match at The Oval. This win can shape history, be a catalyst for Imran Khans new age. A win at Lords, to follow humiliation in 1978 - and if there is one thing Imran cant stomach, its humiliation. His every cell has pride stamped on it. This win will be a manifesto for pride-branded cricket. Yet the rain clouds are gathering and only 15 overs remain.Pakistans opener Mudassar Nazar holds the record for the slowest Test hundred. He doesnt appear, left in the pavilion to be satisfied with his surprise six wickets in the second innings. Imran places history in the hands of Mohsin Khan, to follow his dashing double-hundred in the first innings, and Javed Miandad. The rain clouds are in a rush, but Miandad and Mohsin are more urgent, scampering singles and thrashing boundaries. Pakistan win by ten wickets. Javed kisses the turf and runs for the pavilion. We are in the time of pitch invasions, and where better to sprint in triumph than at Lords? Imran smiles for his statement victory.England are back at full strength at Headingley to narrowly take the series. But nothing takes the edge off that first win at Lords. Nothing. Lords is the home of cricket and the ground to make history for Englands opponents. Pakistan will never look back.****A decade later, another chase at Lords. It is important. Pakistan are the ODI world champions. Winners over England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March, an iconic final in the history of one-day cricket. Wasim Akrams final, where he scores quick runs and conjures incredible wickets, blowing a hole in Englands soul. In these undifferentiated days, the status of world champions in one-day cricket somehow implies superiority in Test cricket too. Pakistan feel the pressure of tackling their vanquished rivals so soon, of defending their world standing. In any case, this is England. And this is the home of cricket. Thats pressure enough. Pakistans captain, Miandad, knows all this and he has his pride too. The pride of Karachi, of never taking a backward step.Pakistan hunt a second series win in England, after winning their first in 1987. An unlikely alliance of Headingley and Saleem Malik, backed up by Imrans ten wickets, delivered that series. But Imran is now gone, a victim of age and a feud about the World Cup spoils. Miandad is captain on the team sheet rather than by proxy. Its the fourth day and Pakistan require a simple 138 to win. Nothing is simple in Pakistan cricket. They find themselves at 95 for 8, with Wasim and Waqar Younis at the crease. The two Ws believe theyd won the match once, sharing 13 wickets as we fall in love with reverse swing - and England possess the might of Gooch, Stewart, Hick, Smith, Lamb and Botham. Now the two Ws must win the game again, with the bat this time. Loves labours lost. This match decides nothing except first blood in the series. But every match for a former colony at Lords is a judgement, on how we are and how far weve come. And weve come down to this, 43 required with two wickets in hand. Only Aaqib Javed to come. At the ground, people are frozen rigid in their seats. At home, people are sucked into their televisions. The fate of the world hangs on this, at least it seems to. Pakistan dont lose another wicket. Pakistan dont lose. Wasim crashes a lavish four to the cover boundary, grabs a stump and sprints for the pavilion. Hes met halfway by team-mates, and ecstatic fans, carried aloft like the King of Lords.England play a perfect game at Headingley, but Pakistan decide the series at The Oval. Pakistan almost win by an innings and no Pakistani scores more than 59. Fifteen wickets to the lords of reverse swing. Pakistan arent just world one-day champions. They are more than that - and Lords plays its part.****By 1996, England are no longer feared. It is Pakistan who are feared, with their world-class opening bowlers and mystery spinners. They can bat too. This is the most complete Test team Pakistan cricket have ever known. Nothing is simple, for sure. They are successful but not quite as successful as they might be. And there are reasons, some that only emerge later, for why the chaos keeps boiling over, why the genie loves to escape the lamp.The fiirst Test is at Lords and Pakistan dominate.dddddddddddd Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saeed Anwar are formidable in a team at its peak. Nothing is simple, though, for Pakistan cricket. They dominate at Lords but the result is in doubt. England are holding on, rather too easily, at 168 for 1 on the final day chasing 408, with Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart at the crease. The game is a draw, a nailed-on draw.And then it happens, the deep magic fills the ground. Waqar charges down the slope, Mushtaq Ahmed skips and twirls his variations. Extreme pace from one end, swinging in at the stumps, a legspinner casting his spell at the other, the battle rhythm of Pakistan cricket is scattering Englands senses. With each wicket, Waqar charges in faster, bowls it quicker, swinging it more and later. Each war cry from him is louder and more victorious. The stumps are his. England are gone for 243 and Pakistan win again at Lords, this time by 164 runs.The Oval seals the series. A fine win by nine wickets. This Pakistan is too strong for this England. And Lords played its part, settling the mood, making it three wins out of four for the men of Pakistan.****Two decades later, the world is changed. The revolution a distant memory. The heroes gone; 2001, 2006 and 2010, the intervening England tours, produce no wins at Lords, and only a decline in standards. The year 2001 is the twilight of the idols, a drawn series through luck and the weight of history. Then 2006 brings a team that can bat in parts but betrays its bowling traditions. It also brings the rule of Inzamam, with the assistance of the Bob. It brings The Oval and Darrell Hair and the forfeit. But 2010 is worse. A batting side of horrible inexperience, a camp of distinct immaturity, and the scandal of no-balls. Cricket is finished in Pakistan, perhaps Pakistan cricket is finished? Yet this is Pakistan, and nothing is simple or easily fathomable. Pakistan is not weak. This Pakistan team is strong, save for its openers. The strongest, hungriest Pakistan team to visit England since 1996. The most complete Pakistan team to visit England except that team of 1996. How they did it is written in these pages. The will of Misbah-ul-Haq and the grit and guile of Younis Khan. The discovery of Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed, two of Pakistans most accomplished players in their respective positions. The pace of Wahab Riaz, that wild, raging power that summons the magic of reverse swing. The revelation of Yasir Shah, a legspinner in the tradition of Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq, perhaps better than both, and in tandem with the pace bowlers beating the battle rhythm of Pakistan cricket to scatter Englands senses. And then at Lords, the resurrection of Mohammad Amir, the bearer of the flame, the next great Pakistan fast bowler.Nothing is simple in Pakistan cricket. This isnt the wild, electric, ill-disciplined Pakistan of yore. This is a new Pakistan, a second revolution. This is a revolution of patience and discipline, of dot balls and boot camps. A Pakistan that stokes wildfire and electricity but confines them within a calm embrace.This is Pakistans fourth Test win at Lords. Each win is the stuff of legend, but that is the nature of Lords. It would be too simple to say each win matters as much as the others. Nothing is so simple in Pakistan cricket. Up until now, Imrans 1982 victory was the greatest, but it was coming, Pakistan were a team whose moment was about to arrive. In 2016, 34 years later, Pakistan cricket has given us unparalleled highs and bottomless lows. No series victory in England for 20 years. So many bad times that the good times were almost forgotten and unimaginable. A Pakistan team has never approached a Lords Test under such scrutiny, this unsure of its worth outside Asia, and against an opponent flying so high. What to expect was hard to fathom. Yet Pakistan mastered the pressure. They mastered the circumstances. They delivered the greatest Lords win, but they didnt sprint off the pitch. They paused in front of the pavilion for a salute and press-ups to pay respect to their country and their countrymen.This is a second revolution in Pakistan cricket. A revolution of pace and fire. A revolution of mesmeric spin and dedicated batting. A revolution of deep magic and battle rhythms. Above all, this is a revolution of respect. ' ' '