The Sox clinched the AL East Friday night and when the lineup was announced on Saturday, it reflected that. McDonald was at 2nd and Middlebrooks was making his debut at 1st base. Clay Buchholz was on the mound and hoping to still stay undefeated. Clay didn't pitch poorly, but he didn't pitch well enough to avoid his first loss against Buehrle who was dominating the Sox lineup.
Clay looked really strong in the early innings of the game. Clay only had one inning where he found trouble and it was enough to get him the loss. In the 4th, Lind hit an RBI double to score the Jays first run. Davis then hit an RBI single and the 3rd run was scored when Buchholz made an errant throw to 1st base. Clay's constant throwing over to first is something that makes fans groan. It always seems like he is playing with fire and he definitely got burned last night. Sox 0-3. The Sox finally got on the scoreboard in the 6th inning when Jonny Gomes hit an RBI single to score Drew. Sox 1-3. Buchholz was done after 6 innings and 106 pitches. Farrell said that Buch wanted to go back out for the 7th, but that he wanted to keep him at about 105 pitches for this outing. He didn't pitch poorly and was probably sharper than he was against the Yankees, but he made one mistake too many.
Drake Britton came out and pitched a scoreless 7th inning in relief. He continues to show he could have value on the post season roster. In the 7th the Sox got within a run when Ross hit a sac grounder to score Bogaerts. Sox 2-3. Ryan Dempster made his first relief appearance last night when he came out for the 8th inning. Dempster gave up a single and a walk, but still pitched a scoreless inning. Matt Thornton took the mound in the 9th and gave the Jays an insurance run when he gave up an RBI single to Arencibia. If Thornton ends up on the post season roster, I'll be shocked. The Sox weren't able to rally in the 9th and took the loss.
Red Sox 2 Blue Jays 4 BOXSCORE
WP: Buehrle (12-9) LP: Buchholz (11-1) SV: Janssen (33)
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