G89: Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 1

Red Sox   - 200 020 000 - 4  6  1
Blue Jays - 000 100 000 - 1  5  0

Buchholz (5.2-4-1-3-3, 103) was on, except for a brief hiccup in the fourth inning, Kevin Youkilis belted a two-run dong in the first, and David Ortiz hit a two-run double in the fifth to pull the curtain down on Romero's night (4.1-5-4-5-8, 93).

With one out in the fifth, Dustin Pedroia grinded out a 12-pitch walk (bcfbfffffbfb) against Romero in the fifth. Romero lost something in that battle -- he walked Yook on five pitches (bbbcb) then gave up a double to deep left to Flo on a 3-2 count.

HH gave up a double to Adam Lind to open the Jays fourth, but he was erased when he tried to take third on Scott Rolen's grounder back to the mound. Lyle Overbay (who had three of Toronto's five hits) hit a ground rule double to right-center. Scott Rolen had to stop at third, but he soon scored on Alex Rios's sacrifice fly.

Buchholz may have tired in the sixth. After getting the first two batters, he was at 92 pitches. After Overbay singled and Rios walked, Terry Francona came with the hook. I was blacked out from watching at work, but it sounded as though HH had his good curve and change and his fastball was consistently at 94-96. (links to pitchfx charts)

Bullpen: Bard struck out three of the four batters he faced, Hideki Okajima stranded a two-out double in the eighth, and Jonathan Papelbon cruised through an eight-pitch ninth.
Clay Buchholz (2009 debut) / Ricky Romero (3.00, 144 ERA+)

Jason Bay:

I still don't think we've played our best yet. ... We're starting to hit our stride.

This is the fifth consecutive year that the Red Sox have begun the "second half" of the season in first place. They open with a six-game road trip -- three games each in Toronto and Texas.


This is Buchholz's first major league appearance since August 20, 2008. He has made 16 starts for Pawtucket and had a 2.36 ERA.

It's an opportunity that I've been waiting for all year. ... I'm ready to go. I've prepared for it for a good while now. ... I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little bit (frustrated). But all I could do is go out there and pitch every fifth day and help that team win and try to get better every day I go out there. I knew everything else was sort of out of my control ...

Maybe the first couple of pitches (I'll be excited). But after that, that's how these guys stay in the game forever - because they control their emotions and everything else. I'm sure the adrenaline will be running, but ... I'm not going to be nearly as amped as I was a couple of years ago.

Rookie of the Year candidate Romero has a 2.38 ERA over his past eight starts (since the beginning of June); the lefty has held opponents to a .221 average in those 56.2 innings.

The Yankees (3 GB) host the Tigers at 7 PM. A.J. Burnett -- 1.34 in his last 5 starts/33.2 IP -- faces rookie Lucas French.