Buchholz (5-2) won his sixth straight start at the Rogers Centre tonight as the Red Sox (27-25, 14-11 away) pulled even with the Blue Jays (27-25, 15-11 home) thanks to a 7-2 victory in the series opener.
It's a small and crappy sample size but this was definitely his best outing of the season. Not only did he last eight innings (2 runs, 6 hits, 2 walks) but he struck out a season-high seven batters. All Toronto could manage against him were a pair of harmless solo home runs.
Boston's offense pounded Blue Jays starter Henderson Alvarez (3-5) along with two no-name scrub relievers, to the tune of 15 hits. Alvarez lasted 6.1 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
Daniel Nava went 4 for 5 with three doubles, three runs and an RBI while Adrian Gonzalez was 3 for 5 with a double, two RBIs and a run. David Ortiz (2 RBIs, run, walk) and Ryan Sweeney (run) also had multiple hits in the win.
Ortiz got the party started with a solo homer (his 13th of the season) to left center in the second inning. Gonzalez had an RBI single in the third but Yunel Escobar got the Blue Jays on the board that frame with a solo homer (his 3rd of the season).
Boston scored a run on Jarrod Saltalamacchia's fielder's choice in the third and the Red Sox tacked on four additional runs in the seventh to clinch it. Scott Podsednik had an infield single that scored a run, Nava crushed an RBI double, Gonzalez added another RBI single and Ortiz did the same.
David Cooper (double) gave the Blue Jays fans something to cheer about as he hit his first homer of the season, a solo shot in the seventh.
Still, Buchholz threw 108 pitches and perhaps most importantly, he saved Boston's bullpen. Only Scott Atchison was summoned, to handle the ninth.
Felix Doubront (5-2) faces Kyle Drabek (4-5) tomorrow afternoon (1:07 p.m., NESN) with a chance to help the Red Sox leapfrog the Blue Jays in the AL East standings (and get out of the basement in the process).
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