The Red Sox will have another go at pulling off a home win against Baltimore as they send Clay Buchholz to the mound against Brian Matusz and the Orioles.
We'll keep you up-to-date on all the action as it goes down in Fenway Park.
Red Sox 7, Orioles 0, Final -- Clay Buchholz completes the shutout, and the Red Sox win!
Red Sox 7, Orioles 0, End 8th -- Doubles from Daniel Nava and Kevin Youkilis add another run to Boston's tally--their first time scoring since the third. Luckily that first third of the game was a doozy, and Buchholz has been lock down.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 0, Mid 8th -- Clay Buchholz has given up a few singles, but little else. A good swing by Wilson Betemit gives the Orioles another leadoff baserunner, but once again Clay refuses to give in, following up a strikeout to Ryan Flaherty with a pair of easy ground balls to end the inning.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 0, End 7th -- The Sox don't score, but Adrian Gonzalez just keeps hitting, sending a line drive to center field for his third hit of the night. Only Flaherty's catch of the wall separates him from 4-for-4.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 0, Mid 7th -- Clay Buchholz gives up some hard contact to Chris Davis and Matt Wieters, but Daniel Nava is able to make a couple of tricky plays to save hits, and Mark Reynolds strikes out to make it seven scoreless for Boston's starter.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 0, End 6th -- Daniel Nava's refusal to get out continues, as he walks to break up a string of five straight batters retired. Dustin Pedroia gives a fly ball a long ride, but it hangs up short of the wall, and neither Kevin Youkilis nor David Ortiz can reach base, leaving Nava stranded at first.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 0, Mid 6th -- The Orioles still can't get anything going against Clay Buchholz. His fourth strikeout of the night gets the sixth inning started on the right foot, and J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones do little better in recording the second and third outs.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 0, End 5th -- The Sox go very quickly in the fifth, giving Miguel Gonzalez two outs on two pitches before Kelly Shoppach makes the third on a five-pitch groundout. The bullpen does not seem to be in quite the generous mood Matusz was.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 0, Mid 5th -- Buchholz endures his most difficult inning so far, getting Mark Reynolds solidly in the legs and then grazing Ryan Flaherty's uniform, but a double play in between keeps the Orioles from really making a scoring threat out of it, and Buchholz strikes out Robert Andino to end his fifth scoreless frame.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 0, End 4th -- Boston's two-run picket fence is broken, as is Adrian Gonzalez' perfect night at the plate. The latter--and perhaps even the former--is due to a great leaping catch at the wall by Ryan Flaherty to rob Gonzalez of extra bases.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 0, Mid 4th -- Clay Buchholz allows another baserunner, albeit this time thanks to his own failure to make an easy catch while covering first, but still managed to keep the runs off the board with three more easy outs.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 0, End 3rd -- Another inning, another pair of runs for the Red Sox. What's the two-run version of a picket fence?
Adrian Gonzalez and Darnell McDonald once again take part in the scoring effort. Gonzalez led the inning off with his second hit of the night on a ringing single to center field, chasing Matusz from the game. Darnell McDonald would follow him up with a wall ball double to left that may have only not scored Gonzalez thanks to Ryan Flaherty dekeing him out in left field. Kelly Shoppach would not manage to bring either man in, going down swinging for the second out, but that just brought Daniel Nava to the plate, ready to build on his growing level. A line drive to right proved just right for the task, bringing both runs in with the help of a misplay from Endy Chavez.
Red Sox 4, Orioles 0, Mid 3rd -- Clay Buchholz' third inning goes much like his first, with a leadoff single being erased by a Robert Andino double play, with the third out coming on a swinging strikeout by Endy Chavez. Clay is just etting stronger as the night goes on.
Red Sox 4, Orioles 0, End 2nd -- The Red Sox double their run total in the second inning thanks in part to some bad pitching from Brian Matusz, and in part to Robert Andino, who has finally done something to help rather than hurt the Red Sox.
Matusz was squarely responsible for the three leadoff baserunners he allowed, though the hit sandwiched between walks to Darnell McDonald and Daniel Nava was just a Kelly Shoppach bloop to center field. Still, he did about as good a job as he could given the situation, inducing a ground ball off the bat of Dustin Pedroia. It wasn't going to be an easy double play for Robert Andino to turn, but with Mike Aviles barreling down on him he turned a tough play into a bad one, throwing well wide of the bag at first, allowing another run to come across as the ball headed towards the Boston dugout.
Red Sox 2, Orioles 0, Mid 2nd -- Darnell McDonald flubs a fly ball in center field, allowing a single to turn into a double in what should be called an error, but Clay Buchholz is up to the task of keeping runs off the board. He looks better in the second than he did in the first, finding corners with greater regularity and throwing a really good two-seamer. It's an encouraging start for a pitcher who seems to be in the middle of turning his season around.
Red Sox 2, Orioles 0, End 1st -- The Sox get to Brian Matusz for two runs in the first, and it's none other than Adrian Gonzalez who did the damage.
He does, of course, have a few guys to thank for putting him in the position to do so. After Daniel Nava started the inning with a pop-up, Dustin Pedroia worked the count full and drew a walk to give the Sox their first baserunner of the game. Kevin Youkilis would catch a 2-2 fastball high enough to flip a line drive into left field, bringing David Ortiz to the plate in a big situation
Unfortunately, the Sox' big-hitting DH was unable to come through, popping up like Nava before him. Will Middlebrooks would keep the Sox alive and load the bases by fighting back from a 1-2 count to draw the second walk of the inning, and up came Adrian Gonzalez. Taking the first two pitches he saw for a ball and a strike, Gonzalez turned on the third, sending a rocket ground ball down the first base line and into right field for a two-run double. Mike Aviles nearly added to the tally, but his long fly ball died on the track in left, good only for an inning-ending out.
Red Sox 0, Orioles 0, Mid 1st -- Not a bad inning from Clay Buchholz, if not entirely encouraging. The rebounding right-hander missed a few spots, but managed to get effective results in the end against the first three Orioles he faced. Endy Chavez managed to get enough of the bat on an inside pitch to flair a single into right field, but Buchholz would fight back to strike J.J. Hardy out, and Adam Jones ended the inning by grounding up the middle to Dustin Pedroia for an easy double play.