Clay Buchholz Looks to Close Out Sweep of Manny Ramirez, Dodgers

The Red Sox go for their second straight sweep at Fenway Park when they take on Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night.

Boston has won five in a row and seven of eight on its current nine-game homestand. It's a good time for the club to make hay, as 32 of their next 48 games are on the road.

The Sox overcame a season-high four errors in Saturday's 5-4 win, the decisive run scoring on a Dustin Pedroia single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Clay Buchholz will aim for his 10th win of the season Sunday opposite Hiroki Kuroda.

WHEN AND WHERE

Dodgers (38-30) at Red Sox (42-28)
Sunday, June 20, 8:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Fenway Park, Boston

HEAD TO HEAD

The Sox are 4-1 all-time against the Dodgers at home.

PITCHING MATCHUP

RHP Hiroki Kuroda (6-4, 3.10 ERA) vs. RHP Clay Buchholz (9-4, 2.67 ERA)

Buchholz will be making his 50th career major league appearance and second in interleague play. The first time he faced a NL team five days ago at Fenway Park, Buchholz picked up a win over Arizona after giving up three runs in 5 2/3 innings.

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While he has been the Sox' best pitcher most of the year, Buchholz has leveled off a bit of late. After giving up just four runs in 36 1/3 innings over a personal five-game winning streak, he has surrendered six in 12 2/3 frames over his last two starts.

Kuroda, 35, has a 1.50 ERA in three starts in June, holding opponents to a .212 average (14-for-66). He has never faced Boston but is 1-5 with a 4.89 ERA in six interleague starts.

LINEUPS

Dodgers Red Sox
Matt Kemp, CF
Andre Ehtier, RF
Manny Ramirez, DH
James Lone, 1B
Garret Anderson, LF
Casey Blake, 3B
Russell Martin, C
Blake Dewitt, 2B
Jamey Carroll, SS
Marco Scutaro, SS
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Oriz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Victor Martinez, C
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Daniel Nava, LF
Mike Cameron, CF
Darnel McDonald, RF

STAT SHEET

Red Sox

Dodgers

BLACK AND BLUE

Red Sox

Dodgers

OUTLOOK

The way things have gone of late, you almost expect someone to step up for the Sox. And with the brutal stretch of road games on the horizon, including six in NL parks where there will be no designated hitter, it would be nice to end the long homestand on a good note.