Boston jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the fifth inning but they had to sweat it out a bit as Cleveland scored three runs in the seventh and one in the ninth before finally being subdued for good.
Buchholz (4-1) continued to benefit from stellar run support from his teammates. He actually pitched well except for the fact that he departed in the sixth with one out and the bases loaded. Cleveland (18-14, 10-4 away) was able to plate all three of those runs against Rich Hill and Andrew Miller but it could have been worse. Buchholz went 6.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits with no strikeouts and three walks. Bobby V left him in too long (as he's prone to do) but you can't fault him that much since the bullpen has been fried the last few weeks. Buchholz was lucky he didn't get hit harder since in 111 pitches, he only got three swings and misses.
The shell of the pitcher they call Ubaldo Jimenez (3-3) continued to suck for the Indians. He only lasted 4.1 innings, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and five walks.
Dustin Pedroia (3 for 4, 3 RBIs, run) led Boston's offense while Ryan Sweeney (2 hits, run, RBI) and Adrian Gonzalez (2 doubles) also had multiple hits. Nick Punto got a rare start at shortstop and he scored two runs.
Michael Brantley (2 hits, 2 RBIs) led four Indians with multiple hits: Jason Kipnis (2 hits, run), Travis Hafner (2 hits, RBI) and Jack Hannahan (2 hits) all had good evenings at the plate.
Santana gave the Indians a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single but Will Middlebrooks answered with a two-run double in the home half of the first. Pedroia added a two-run double in the second then Boston scored three times in the fifth on Cody Ross's RBI double, Sweeney's RBI single and Pedroia's sacrifice fly.
Hill walked Hafner with the bases loaded in the seventh and Kipnis scored on Middlebrooks's error. Brantley had RBI singles in the seventh and ninth.
Alfredo Aceves got his first save attempt in nearly two weeks so it was no surprise that it was rocky. He had runners on first and third with one out but struck out Hannahan and retired Johnny Damon on a lazy fly ball to center for his sixth save of the season.
Felix Doubront (2-1) faces Josh Tomlin (1-2) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) as the Red Sox try to win their second straight game for the first time in two weeks (they haven't done it yet in May).
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