Clay Buchholz finally broke out of his season-long slump, allowing just three earned runs over 6 1/3 innings. buchholz started off slow But settled into a nice groove in the middle innings before finding himself in more trouble in the seventh.
The bullpen was able to salvage Buchholz fourth win of the season, though, pulling the Red Sox ever so slightly out of their previous 1-and-8 skid.
Dustin Pedroia was the star of the game, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Will Midllebrooks had a solid night himself, smacking a two-run double to kickoff the scoring for the Sox.
End 8th, Red Sox 7-4: Boston put together another rally in the bottom of the eighth, but a great pickoff move followed by a couple solid outs from Indians reliever Tony Sipp shut things down.
Adrian Gonzalez got his second hit of the night, now 2-for-2, with a double and his batting average is flirting right around .300 again.
Alfredo Aceves will try to close things out for the Red Sox, and get Boston their second win in 10 games.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 7-4: Franklin Morales struggled at the onset of the eighth inning, allowing two of the three batters he faced to reach base. but Vicente Padilla entered the game to shut down the threat.
Padilla induced a grounder to first and a flyball to center field to end any scoring chances. Even amidst a potentially game-altering call on Will Middlebrooks "non catch" in foul territory, Padilla made a worrisome inning into a nonfactor.
10:22 p.m.: Pitching Change – Franklin Morales is being replaced with Vicente Padilla. Morales put a man on first and second base and recorded just one out in the inning.
End 7th, Red Sox 7-4: Dustin Pedroia continued on with his recent hot streak, striking a single to center field for his third hit of the night.
Nothing came of Pedroia's appearance on the base paths, but it's noteworthy to mention the second baseman's recent "laser show" presentation.
Pedroia is hitting .316 now on the season, and has driven in 17 runs including three on Friday night.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 7-4: Clay Buchholz was pulled halfway through the seventh inning, and nearly had to watch the bullpen give away his lead.
Rich Hill allowed a pair of runs, and Andrew Miller allowed another — all earned to Buchholz — to let the Indians get with striking distance of Boston.
Travis Hafner and Micahel Brantley came through with singles to plate a pair, and Carlos Santan scored on an error to third baseman Will Middlebrooks.
We'll see if the Red Sox can hold on.
9:45 p.m.: Pitching Change – CLay Buchholz was pulled from the game by Bobby Valentine, leaving the bases loaded in the top of the seventh.
Rich Hill takes over, looking to squash the threat.
9:35 p.m.: **Breaking News: Red Sox have traded for former All-Star outfielder Scott Podsednik.
End 6th, Red Sox 7-1: Dan Wheeler has looked good in relief of Ubaldo Jimenez, but the reliever is merely stopping the bleeding for the Indians during a 7-1 blowout.
Wheeler shut down the Sox during the sixth inning, sitting them down in order. Daniel Nava flew out to center, Cody Ross grounded out to second and Jarrod Saltalamacchia flew out to left to end the inning.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 7-1: Buchholz continued his solid outing with another knock-down inning.
The Red Sox starter appeared to struggle earlier in the night. But after six innings of just one-run ball, Buchholz is starting to look like the same pitcher that posted a 2.33 ERA in 2010.
Let's see if he can make it through the seventh without any hiccups.
Bottom 5th, Red Sox 7-1: Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney came through in a big way for the Sox in the fifth inning.
Ross kicked things off, driving in Daniel Nava run — his 22nd RBI os the season — with a double deep down the left field line. Then following a hustle single by Nick Punto, Sweeney blooped a pitch into right field for his second hit of the night, knocking in his 11th RBI of the year.
Pedroia added on in the inning with a sacrifice fly to center to plate Punto, extending the lead to 7-1.
9:01 p.m. – Pitching Change: Jimenez was lifted in favor of former Red Sox pitcher Dan Wheeler after the Sweeney single, his final line on the night was 4 2/3 innings, seven earned runs, nine hits, five walks, four strikeouts.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 4-1: Boston continue showing off the leather on Friday night.
Dustin Pedroia snagged a line drive and scooped a hard-hit gound ball to help keep Clay Buchholz out of trouble.
The Red Sox defense has been superb on Friday night, and if it keeps up Buchholz may just find himself on into the seventh inning.
End 4th, Red Sox 4-1:The Red Sox failed to score again in the fourth, but an eager fan sure made things interesting.
Adrian Gonzalez ripped the ball down the third base line, and as Indians third baseman Jack Hannahan went to retrieve it a fan actually scooped up the ball along the left field wall. Gonzalez was awarded second base, even though he never would have advanced naturally.
Meanwhile, the fan, draped in his black hooded sweatshirt, sat laughing almost maniacally at the outcome.
Pedroia, Ortiz and Middlebrooks all went down, giving Jimenez two-straight innings without a blemish.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 4-1: Buchholz looks to be settling into a nice groove on the mound.
The 27-year-old, who started the night off with an early run in the first inning, got out of the fourth inning 1-2-3 and has only thrown 67 pitches through four innings, so far.
If Buchholz keeps up at this rate, the bullpen may very well be spared or at least rested tonight.
End 3rd, Red Sox 4-1: The Red Sox got a few men on base early in the inning, yet again, but this time they couldn't deliver.
Daniel Nava, who's having one heck of a night, doubled to left and Cody Ross walked for the second time on Friday to get another threat started. But Jimenez was able to retire Saltalamacchia, Punto and Sweeney in order to get out of the jam.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 4-1: Some great defense bails out Buchholz once again.
This time it was Daniel Nava doing the dirty work to the keep the Red Sox 4-1 lead in tact.
Nava, who was just called up from Pawtucket on Thursday, made a good play off the wall to keep a run from scoring on a double earlier in the inning. But it was his end of the inning grab that helped Boston escape unscathed.
The left fielder sprinted towards the foul line and was able to nab the ball with his glove, right around his knees, before crashing arms first into the wall. A great play that helps keep Buchholz out of serious trouble in this one.
Buchholz acknowledged the effort by waiting to congratulate Nava before heading into the dugout. A nice jesture that shows the pitcher's appreciation of the solid defense behind him.
End 2nd, Red Sox 4-1: Dustin Pedroia may boast the hottest bat in the majors, right now.
Pedroia took another fastball to the opposite field, driving in both Nick Punto and Ryan Sweeney for his 15th and 16th RBIs of the season.
The Red Sox are now on top 4-1, as Ubaldo Jimenez just can't seem to control his fastball on the evening.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 2-1: Clay Buchholz escapes from a jam once again, thanks in large part to some solid defense from catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
With Jack Hannahan on second base, a bloop single into left field by Jason Kipnis should've scored the Indians third baseman. But a decent toss to the plate from Cody Ross and a great block of the dish by Salty kept Hannahan from getting to the base.
Indians third base coach Steve Smith was livid over the call, which replay proved to be the right one, and was tossed from the game.
End 1st, Red Sox 2-1: The Red Sox responded to their early 1-0 deficit with some offensive firepower.
Rookie third baseman Will Middlebrooks led the charge, driving in a pair of runs — Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz — on a one-out double.
Middlebrooks is red hot since joining the big league club, hitting .344 with three home runs and 11 RBIs.
Mid 1st Inning, Indians 1-0: Clay Buchholz appeared to be on point to start off the night. But after two quick outs Buchholz surrendered his first run of the night.
A walk to Asdrubal Cabrera followed by a single by Travis Hafner started off the rally, and a single down the right field line from catcher Carlos Santana drove in a run to take the early 1-0 lead.
Buchholz responded to get Michael Brantley to ground out to end the inning, avoiding a major deficit to start the game.
6:55 p.m.: Clay Buchholz will toe the rubber to kick off the action on Friday night.
The 27-year-old is 3-1 on the season but also ranks near the bottom of the league in ERA at 9.09, allowing 33 earned runs in 32 2/3 innings on the year.
The Indians are hoping to continue their hot-hitting streak, which continued with eight runs against the Red Sox on Thursday.
Tune into NESN for all the action of the game, and keep up with our NESN.com live blog to keep up to dat eon everything happening at and/or around the ballpark.
Get ready for some Red Sox baseball!
6:15 p.m.: The Red Sox have played 31 games this season, and shortstop Mike Aviles has appeared in 30 of them. He'll get a rare night off — at least to start — on Friday night at Fenway Park.
Take a gander at the lineups for both teams on Friday night.
Red Sox
Ryan Sweeney, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Daniel Nava, LF
Cody Ross, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Nick Punto, SS
Clay Buchholz, P
Indians
Johnny Damon LF
Jason Kipnis 2B
Asdrubal Cabrera SS
Travis Hafner DH
Carlos Santana C
Shin-Soo Choo RF
Michael Brantley CF
Casey Kotchman 1B
Jack Hannahan 3B
Ubaldo Jimenez,P
8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox took another tough one on the chin on thursday night, dropping their series opener 8-3 to the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians.
Bobby Valentine and Co. turn to a mightily struggling Clay Buchholz (3-1, 9.09 ERA) to try and turn the tides for the Sox, as the team attempts to end their current 1-and-8 stretch. It won't be an easy task, especially if the Indians bring their bats again as they did on Thursday.
Former Rockies ace Ubaldo Jiminez (3-2, 4.04) is set to take the mound for the Tribe at Fenway, as a suddenly streaking Cleveland club seeks their eighth win in 12 tries this month.
Tune into NESN to catch all your in-game action, first pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. And be sure to catch all the pregame action with Tom Caron, starting with Friday Night Fenway at 5:30 p.m.
