Postgame, Red Sox 6-1: This one was all about Clay Buchholz. For the Red Sox to breathe into Wednesday, the second game of the series will have to be about John Lackey.
The big right-hander opposes Edwin Jackson on Tuesday. First pitch is 8:10 p.m. and for at least one more day we can watch the scoreboard with hope for a positive result from another town.
Final, Red Sox 6-1: That’s four wins in five games for the Red Sox, who get a great pitching performance from Clay Buchholz and rip 16 hits.
Let’s see what they have to say postgame and then come back to look at Tuesday’s matchups.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 6-1: Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez are a combined 7-for-9 with four RBIs and three runs scored after teaming for another run in the ninth.
End 8th, Red Sox 5-1: OK, so now Clay Buchholz has thrown 108 pitches. It would seem that he should get a chance to finish it but it appears as if he is through. Scott Atchison will come in.
Terry Francona is not one to be swayed by emotion in such cases.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 5-1: Clay Buchholz is at 97 pitches and showing no signs of slowing down as we head to the bottom of the eighth. He has not completed eight since Aug. 11.
End 7th, Red Sox 5-1: Clay Buchholz has given up several drives to left but Bill Hall has been up to the task. He collects a drive to the track to end the seventh and has again dropped his ERA to 2.35.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 5-1: The Yankees have indeed lost in Toronto, their fifth loss in six games. It is amazing how different the vibe would be if Jonathan Papelbon had closed that game out Sunday night.
The Red Sox get another run on Victor Martinez’s second RBI. He has 23 of those in September.
Darnell McDonald’s second sacrifice of the game helped set up the run. He has 11 of those on the year, seven more than anyone else on the team.
End 6th, Red Sox 4-1: As Clay Buchholz retires the side in the sixth we are watching the Yankees bat in the ninth in Toronto, trailing 7-5. The Rays have already lost.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 4-1: If there is one knock on Ryan Kalish since he’s been up it might be his tendency at times to be overagressive. It showed again in the sixth when he rounds first too far after a single and is thrown out trying to get back to the bag.
You’ll recall Kalish getting picked off first in the ninth inning of a close loss to the Blue Jays during the last homestand.
You have to admire him for being aggressive, but in time he will learn to pull back a bit.
End 5th, Red Sox 4-1: The White Sox are on the board with a sacrifice fly to left and Clay Buchholz’s streak is over. His ERA jumps to 2.37.
Bill Hall has been a busy guy in left field. He hauled in the sac fly with a running grab into the gap.
Buchholz looked pretty bad falling down trying to field a chopper to start the inning. His comical gaffe allowed A.J. Pierzynski to reach and eventually score, and cemented Buchholz as a member of blooper reels from here to eternity.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 4-0: The milestones have come fast and furious in this one for Boston. Both David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre are at 100 RBIs after Beltre joins the group with an RBI single in the fourth.
Beltre entered the night 2-for-24 since hurting his left wrist against Toronto. He is 3-for-3.
End 4th, Red Sox 3-0: Manny Ramirez is Clay Buchholz’s fourth strikeout victim of the night and the last out of the fourth. The ERA is down to 2.33.
At this rate Buchholz will have the lead in that category before the night is over.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 3-0: The Yankees continue to trail in Toronto and the Rays are trailing to Baltimore at home. I sense a three-way tie at the end of Sunday’s play. Yep, I’m pretty sure of it.
End 3rd, Red Sox 3-0: Clay Buchholz escaped a major jam in the third and his ERA is down to 2.35 after his streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run goes to 15.
The White Sox had runners at second and third with no outs. A liner to left fielder Bill Hall, a strikeout and a weak grounder to first leave the runners right there.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 3-0: Another run comes in on a sacrifice fly by Victor Martinez, which came on the heels of a sacrifice bunt by Darnell McDonald, which came on the heels of a double by Marco Scutaro.
So, stating the obvious, if all scores hold the Sox enter Tuesday still breathing. The one problem is that the Yankees have CC Sabathia going then.
End 2nd, Red Sox 2-0: Not really sure what has gotten into him, or if the U.S. Cellular Field radar gun is off, but Clay Buchholz has some serious velocity in this one.
The righty’s average fastball speed this year is 94.0 mph, but he is consistently hitting 98 and 97.
Nice to see a vintage Manny Ramirez moment in the second. At first when A.J. Pierzynski grounds to first, Ramirez just runs into the out at second base rather than get in a pickle. The look that Pierzynksi just show Ramirez speaks volumes, and it’s something we know well in Boston.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 2-0: You’ve got to love when Mark Buehrle is on the mound for Chicago. Even when he is getting hit the game just floats right by.
Buehrle, who has struggled for the past month or so, is through the second without an issue.
End 1st, Red Sox 2-0: Nice and easy first inning for Clay Buchholz. Like we did the last time he was out we’ll keep tabs on his ERA as this one goes by.
After getting the first three outs in just nine pitches it is at 2.38.
Mid 1st, Red Sox 2-0: David Ortiz has 100 RBIs for the first time since 2007 after a two-run double in the first. He was then out by 100 feet trying to score on a Mike Lowell base hit.
It’s a shame. How many chances for another RBI is Mike Lowell going to get? That one goes to waste when the big fella lumbers in with no chance whatsoever of scoring.
8:05 p.m.: A.J. Burnett baseball, folks. You may have issues with John Lackey’s lackluster season, or Josh Beckett’s, or Daisuke Matsuzaka’s, but be happy you don’t have to rely on Burnett, the most combustible, maddening hurler in baseball. He has spotted the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead in just three innings in Toronto.
Looks like the Red Sox will have a chance to keep the season alive for one more day.
7:19 p.m.: Clay Buchholz has not allowed an earned run in 12 straight innings to keep the pressure on Felix Hernandez in the ERA race.
Hernandez goes Tuesday in Texas, which just scored 16 runs in a win at Oakland.
Buchholz, meanwhile, will get one more start against what could be a second-string Yankees lineup at Fenway Park. If he simply exorcise his demons against Chicago he will be in good shape — Buchholz is 0-2 with 9.95 ERA in three career starts vs. the White Sox.
By the way, the Yankees are already losing 1-0.
6:32 p.m.: So here’s a quandary. If you are the Yankees and the Red Sox lose Monday do you pop open the champagne, regardless of what you do in Toronto?
It seems these debates pop up every year, and have done so increasingly since the wild card format, which allows for more scoreboard watching since more teams are involved. Often the results of a game played between teams in another division entirely can impact your playoff chances, and thus there are many moments when teams back their way in and have to decide…to booze or not to booze.
I usually side with saying yes, not because I love to have a good time, but because what the heck. These teams come together in February, work their butts off, criss-cross the country in the middle of the night several times and deserve to let loose a bit. But if you happen to lose and get in only because another team lost in another city, keep it to a minimum.
If New York falls Monday it would be the club’s fifth loss in six games and give the Rays that much more of a chance to win the A.L. East, the division the Yanks led for most of the season. Hard to really party hard when that’s the scenario, but don’t begrudge them if they pop open a few bottles.
The pregame news in Chicago is pretty limited. We have word that Jarrod Saltalamacchia will undergo surgery to repair ligament damage in his left thumb on Tuesday. Other than that we are just getting ready to see Clay Buchholz continue his pursuit of the ERA crown, one of the last remaining dramas.
4:50 p.m.: The Red Sox have landed in Chicago just fine and their season will continue, despite the difficulty of Sunday night in New York.
We have the lineups right now and will get you any pregame news and notes leading up to first pitch:
Red Sox
Marco Scutaro, 2B
Darnell McDonald, RF
Victor Martinez, C
Adrian Beltre, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Lowell, 1B
Jed Lowrie, SS
Bill Hall, LF
Ryan Kalish, CF
White Sox
Juan Pierre, LF
Omar Vizquel, 2B
Alex Rios, CF
Paul Konerko, 1B
Manny Ramirez, DH
A.J. Pierzynski, C
Carlos Quentin, RF
Alexei Ramirez, SS
Brent Morel, 3B
9 a.m.: After a late-night loss in the Bronx on Sunday, the Red Sox are in the Windy City to take on the Chicago White Sox for the first of four games starting Monday.
Old pal Manny Ramirez welcomes his former club to his new digs as the ChiSox are riding high having won four straight. They swept a three-game set against the Angels over the weekend after snapping an eight-game losing streak Thursday in Oakland.
Buehrle lost his second consecutive start Tuesday, as he allowed five runs and 11 hits in six innings of a 7-2 defeat to the A’s
The southpaw is 6-5 with a 4.48 ERA in his career against the Red Sox and he’s won his last two home starts against the AL East club. He gave up four runs and 10 hits over seven innings of a 7-5 win at Fenway on Sept. 5.
Chicago swept a three-game series in Boston earlier this month and won three of four at home last year.
