David Ortiz got things going with a two-run shot in the first inning, and both Kelly Shoppach — two-run blast — and Cody Ross — solo shot — followed suit to boost the Boston lead. Will Middlebrooks drove in a run with a sixth inning double as did Adrian Gonzalez with a sacrifice fly.
Alfredo Aceves came on to shut the door in the ninth, and that's just what the Red Sox closer did.
Aceves sat John Buck down on strikes to start the inning and continued on with his dominance of the Marlins lineup by forcing Reyes into a pop out and punched out Ramirez to get Buchholz his eighth win of the season and move the Sox back above the .500 line.
End 8th, Red Sox 7-5: Edward Mujica did a good job of containing the Red Sox lead, but he did allow Daniel Nava to double to center field.
Nava advanced to third on a passed ball, and it looked like Ross might even knock him in with a blooper to the edge of the infield, but Infante was able to contain it and shut things down heading into the ninth.
Alfredo Aceves will be entering the game looking for his 16th save of the season.
Aceves will have his hands full in the inning, though, as John Buck, Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez are all expected to bat.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 7-5: Vicente Padilla came on for the hold in the eighth and shut the door on any Marlins chances.
The reliever allowed Omar Infante to reach second base, but a grounder from Cousins and deep flyball by Sanchez ended any threat and kept the lead at 7-5.
Dustin Pedroia was also replaced defensively at second base in the inning by Nick Punto. He appeared to be a little shaken up after that broken-bat pop up. His thumb seems to be the issue.
Pedroia has had the thumb issues as of late, which also kept him off the field for over a week earlier in June. This could be a major problem if he reaggrivated the seemingly healed injury.
End 7th, Red Sox 7-5: Ryan Webb came on for the Marlins in the seventh and made quick work of the Sox. Webb sat Aviles, Pedroia and Gonzalez down in order, with a strikeout to cap things off.
The reliever keeps the Sox lead at 7-5 and gives the Miami bats some hope heading into the eighth.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 7-5: The Sox bullpen worked a scoreless seventh even after getting to third on an error by center fielder Ryan Kalish, Jose Reyes nearly put their lead in danger.
Matt Albers took over for Buchholz, after the starter finished six innings of work.
Albers allowed Reyes on base before settling in and striking out Ramirez followed by a flyout to Stanton.
With two outs in the inning, Valentine chose to bring in Andrew Miller to close things out as Reyes still stood on third base.
Miller closed things out with a deep flyout to center to keep the Sox lead at 7-5.
End 6th, Red Sox 7-5: A Kevin Youkilis double led things off for the Sox, and it was his replacement at third base, Will Middlebrooks, that drove Youk in.
Middlebrooks legged out a double of his own, driving in Youkilis and extending Boston's lead to 7-5 in the sixth.
Daniel Nava came on to pinch run for Middlebrooks, which indicates that Youk will move back across the diamond and Gonzo will come in to man first base in the top half of the seventh.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 6-5: Clay Buchholz may be finished for the night, as Bobby valentine got a pitcher up for the third time in the game. But Buchholz was able to settle down and get the Sox through the sixth with the lead.
Even after a Scott Cousins single, Buchholz retired both Sanchez and Buck on infield groundouts and ended the sixth having thrown just 87 pitches.
A roller coaster performance from Buchholz, but if the bullpen can bail him out it will account for his eighth win on the season.
End 5th, Red Sox 6-5:The Red Sox appear to be making the ultimate sacrifice(s).
Mike Aviles led things off with a ground-rule double to right field, and the shortstop came all the way around to score the go-ahead run.
A sacrifice bunt from Pedroia moved Aviles to third and a sac fly by Gonzo scored him to give the Sox a 6-5 lead.
Buehrle has now allowed a season-high six earned runs on the night and struck out just one batter through 84 pitches. His night may be over.
Mid 5th, 5-5: The LoMo Express just keeps on rolling.
Morrison blasted yet another extra-base hit off of Buchholz in the top of the fifth, driving in two more runs to ties things up at 5-5.
Morrison is now 3-for-3 on the day with a home run, two doubles and all five Marlins RBIs.
Catcher Kelly Shoppach was able to exact at least a tiny bit of revenge on the hot-hitting Morrison though, tagging the outfielder out at home plate on a Greg Dobbs single to end the inning and keep the game tied at 5-5.
Buchholz has struggles mightily with the top of the Marlins lineup, allowing he 2-3-4 hitters to reach base in eight of nine times at the dish on Tuesday. He may come back out for the sixth, seeing that he's only thrown 68 pitches, but don't expect the struggling righty to stay in there much longer.
End 4th, Red Sox 5-3: He's back! And he's as good as ever.
Cody Ross, who was just activated from the disabled list earlier in the day, got his first hit back in the lineup and his ninth home run of the season during his second at-bat on Tuesday.
Ross blasted an 0-1 pitch to deep left-center field and rounded the bases to give the Sox a 5-3 lead.
The blast is promising for Ross, who was struggling after a foot injury forced him to miss the past month. It shows that not only is Ross healthy, but that the power seen in the early going this season wasn't jsut a mirage.
Read more about Ross and his return.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 4-3: Buchholz continues his dominance of the bottom of the Marlins lineup.
Miami's 6-7-8 hitters went down 1-2-3 yet again in the fourth, as Buchholz appears to have a clear dominance on Infante, Cousins and Sanchez.
Buchholz struck out Sanchez to end the half inning, giving him three K's on the evening. He may not match the season-high nine he recorded last Tuesday against the Marlins, but he looks to have that brutal breaking ball confusing hitters once again on Tuesday.
End 3rd, Red Sox 4-3: Mark Buehrle looks to have finally locked into the zone that made him a four-time All Star.
After allowing a pair of two-run homers and falling behind 4-2 in the second inning, Buehrle came out firing in the third. He got both Pedroia and Gonzalez into quick outs and even after an Ortiz single — now 2-for-2 on the day — he induced Youkilis into an inning-ending flyout.
Buehrle deoesn't quite have his All-Star stuff on Tuesday, but the pitcher is working quickly and continues to find Red Sox hitters out of rhythm, something he must continue if he hopes to remain successfull on the mound.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 4-3: Logan Morrison just continues to crush Clay Buchholz pitching.
After crushing a two-run homer off Buchholz in the first inning — as well as one in Miami last Tuesday — Morrison continue his hot streak with a deep double off the Green Monster to drive in his third run on the night.
The rally starter when Hanley ramirez was able to work Buchholz for a two-out walk. Stanton was hit by a pitch in the next at bat and gave the Marlins men on first and second before the double.
Morrison now has 10 hits in his last 26 at bats incuding two home runs — both of Buchholz — and five RBIs.
End 2nd, Red Sox 4-2: And the runs keep coming for the Red Sox.
Kelly Shoppach was the culprit this time, taking a Mark Buehrle fastball deep over the Green Monster in left field.
The two-run shot put the Sox on top with a 4-2 lead, and provides starter Clay Buchholz with the type of cushion he'll need to settle in and really do work against the Marling bats.
That blast has Shoppach on an unprecedented — for the catcher at least — 8-for-17 stretch over his past few outings. The blast was his fourth home run of the season.
Mid 2nd, 2-2: Clay Buchholz appears to have settled down and put the first inning home run out his mind.
Buchholz sat the Marlins 6-7-8 hitters down in order in the second, inducing a pair of grounders to the left side of the infield and getting Scott Cousins to fly out to center.
Clay's command appears to be almost pinpoint on Tuesday night, hitting his spots andf working quick innings. He's only throwns 27 pitches in the two innings of work, and at this rate should extend his streak of pitching seven innings or more to five straight games.
End 1st, 2-2: David Ortiz immediately responded to Morrison's home run with a shot of his own, giving Buchholz some needed run support and tying the game at 2-2.
Ortiz' blast just barely made it over the wall near the 380-foot sign in right field, but the end result is all that mattered.
Papi's 17th home run of the season also scored Dustin Pedroia, who doubled earlier in the inning, on the play and tied things up.
Adrian Gonzalez appeared to have a strong approach against Buehrle in the three hole on the inning, but Tuesday night's right fielder was unable to make anything happen as he grounded out to first. Kevin Youkilis found himself in a similar situation ultimately flying out to right to end the inning, lowering his season average to a dismal .213.
Mid 1st, Marlins 2-0: Logan Morrisson made Clay Buchholz for an errant fastball yet again.
Morrison took Buchholz deep in the top half of the first inning to give the Marlins an early 2-0 lead. He crushed the ball to deep center field and drove in Miami third baseman Hanley Ramirez on the play.
Buchholz looks solid on the whole, aside from the two-run shot at least, striking out Marlins heavy hitter Giancarlo Stanton once again — making Stanton 0-for-4 with four K's in his career against Buchholz.
7 p.m.: Clay Buchholz prepares to toe the mound, as the Marlins $105 million shortstop Jose Reyes will lead things off for Miami here at Fenway Park.
6:10 p.m.: As reports that there was a toxic environment within the Red Sox clubhouse, Josh Beckett and other Sox players reacted angrily to the news on Tuesday.
Beckett claimed that the accusations were "completely fabricated," and even discussed the team as the "tightest-knit" group he'd ever been part of.
"We do a lot of stuff together. There's a good continuity here," Beckett said. "I think there are certain people, they want it to be [toxic], and so they report it that way. It's just not like that at all."
Read more about the controversy and how Sox players reacted.
5:30 p.m.: Cody Ross will be making his triumphant return to the Red Sox lineup on Tuesday night, after missing the past month with a broken foot.
Ross will get the start in left field and is hitting seventh in the Boston order against Marlins left Mark Buehrle.
Check out the complete lineups for both teams in the list below.
Red Sox (33-33)
Mike Aviles, SS
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, RF
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Cody Ross, LF
Ryan Kalish, CF
Kelly Shoppach C
Clay Buchholz, RHP
Marlins (33-33)
Jose Reyes, SS
Hanley Ramirez, 3B
Giancarlo Stanton, RF
Logan Morrison, DH
Greg Dobbs, LF
Omar Infante, 2B
Scott Cousins, CF
Gaby Sanchez, 1B
John Buck, C
Mark Buehrle, LHP
8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox are back at Fenway Park on Tuesday night where they'll open a nine-game homestand beginning with three agianst the Miami Marlins.
Last week in Miami, the Red Sox took two out of three games from the Marlins, capping the three-game series with a 10-2 victory that prompted a clubhouse visit from rapper Lil Wayne. Boston will attempt to repeat that success with Clay Buchholz on the bump.
In Buchholz's last start, he held the Marlins to one run over seven innings. Buchholz has been very consistent on the mound recently, going 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA in his last four starts. This season, Buchholz is 4-1 with a 5.12 ERA at Fenway. He'll be going up against Marlins starter Mark Buehrle, who lost against the Red Sox last week after allowing two runs through seven frames.
For more details and analysis from Fenway, follow NESN.com's live blog. Tune into NESN's pregame show at 6 p.m. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
