Cy Young-Caliber Pitching Matchup of Clay Buchholz, Trevor Cahill Opens Series

Two teams clinging to remote playoff hopes will tangle this weekend in Oakland when the Red Sox visit the Athletics for three straight.

Boston begins a six-game road trip 6 1/2 games out in the American League wild-card race after taking two of three from the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Sox scored 28 runs in the series, a season high for any set.

The opener features a wonderful matchup between a pair of Cy Young Award candidates, Clay Buchholz for the Red Sox and Trevor Cahill for the A’s.

WHEN AND WHERE

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HEAD TO HEAD

PITCHING MATCHUP

Buchholz was originally scheduled to pitch in the finale of the Tampa Bay series but was pushed to Friday after the club lost the second game of the set and it was not deemed necessary to rush the righty back on short rest.

He will have five days’ rest for this one. In his career he is 8-5 with a 2.63 ERA in 18 career starts with that amount of time off.

Buchholz has given up just three earned runs in 12 1/3 innings over his last two starts but has failed to pick up win No. 16. Prior to a loss to Chicago six days ago, his last setback came in Oakland on July 21, when he gave up five runs in four innings.

It’s been an up-and-down ride for Cahill of late. He allowed only an unearned run in seven innings three starts ago at Cleveland before giving up eight runs in just four innings against the Yankees.

The 22-year-old bounced back with six scoreless frames in a win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Saturday.

Cahill is 0-2 with an 8.71 ERA in two starts vs. Boston.

LINEUPS

STAT SHEET

• Catcher Victor Martinez is batting .396 (19-for-48) with five homers over his last 12 games.
• Designated hitter David Ortiz is one home run shy of becoming the third player in team history to have six 30-homer seasons (Ted Williams, Manny Ramirez).
• Boston’s five home runs on Wednesday night matched a season high.

Athletics

• Center fielder Coco Crisp is 5-for-8 with two homers and seven RBIs in his last three games.
• Former Red Sox outfielder Jeremy Hermida is 1-for-5 with a walk in two games since joining the A’s.
• Oakland is 32-15 in day games and 37-55 at night.

BLACK AND BLUE

• Second baseman Dustin Pedroia had season-ending surgery Friday on his broken left foot. He is expected to be fully healed for spring training.
• Outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury has a broken rib near where he was hurt earlier in the year, the result of a collision at first base in Texas on Aug. 13. He will likely miss the remainder of the season.
• Center fielder Mike Cameron had season-ending surgery Friday to repair an abdominal tear.
• First baseman Kevin Youkilis had successful surgery to repair the torn right adductor muscle on his right hand. He will miss the remainder of the season.
• Right-hander Junichi Tazawa underwent Tommy John surgery in March. He is out for the year.

Athletics

• Third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff could miss several more days with back spasms.
• Outfielder Conor Jackson is on the DL after surgery to repair a sports hernia.
• Infielder Adam Rosales is on the DL with a stress fracture in his right ankle.
• Right-hander Joey Devine may return this month. He had Tommy John surgery in April 2009.
• Right-hander Josh Outman also had Tommy John surgery last year and may start pitching in an instructional league soon.
• Designated hitter Eric Chavez will miss the rest of the season with bulging neck disks.
• Right-hander Ben Sheets is out for the year with a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow.
• Outfielder Ryan Sweeney had season-ending surgery on his right knee on July 7.
• Right-hander Justin Duchscherer had season-ending surgery on his left hip on June 7.

OUTLOOK