Red Sox-Blue Jays: Clay Buchholz's Strong Outing Lifts Boston Over Toronto

There were no hit parades between the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Tuesday night. This time, it was a pitcher's duel.

The Red Sox came out victorious, outlasting the Blue Jays 2-1 in game two of the three-game series.

Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz pitched eight strong innings, allowing one run on seven hits, walked two, and struck out four, while throwing a total of 117 pitches.

Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum had a similar performance. He lasted seven innings, allowing one run on four hits, walked three, and struck out five, throwing a total of 103 pitches.

Toronto got its only run in the first inning. Vernon Wells hit a double down the left field line, scoring teammate Fred Lewis.

Boston got its first run in the second inning, also with two outs. David Ortiz kept the inning alive with a walk. Adrian Beltre singled on a soft fly ball to center. Jeremy Hermida got hit a single to left, scoring Ortiz to tie the score at 1-1.

Blue Jays reliever Scott Downs came in to replace Marcum to start the eighth inning.

Marco Scutaro, the former Blue Jay, led off the inning with a strikeout. Dustin Pedroia singled to center. Victor Martinez lined a single to right. Pedroia moved to third on a fly out by Kevin Youkilis. J.D. Drew followed the second out with a walk to load the bases.

Then came decision time for Red Sox manager Terry Francona. With Ortiz on deck and a lefty versus lefty matchup approaching, Francona came to a conclusion to pinch-hit for the struggling DH. He sent out Mike Lowell to replace Ortiz.

Lowell coming to the plate caused Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston to make a pitching change. He replaced the lefty Downs with right-handed reliever Kevin Gregg.

Lowell walked on four straight pitches, giving himself a two-out RBI. Pedroia scored from third base to give the Red Sox the winning run and make the score 2-1.

In the 13-12 slugfest on Monday, Boston used six relievers. They only needed one for Tuesday. Ramon Ramirez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the save.