Kalish, Buchholz Lead Sox to Victory

In the long-awaited return of Dustin Pedroia, the Sox second baseman didn't do too much at the plate -- he was 0-for-4 with a strikeout in his first at-bat -- but fortunately, his teammates picked up the slack.

After Clay Buchholz finished his third shutout inning, Darnell McDonald came to bat in the bottom half of the third and blasted a solo homer over everything, smashing a car window beyond the green monster. It was McDonald's 8th homer of the season. Buchholz would take the mound in the fourth and throw another shutout frame, and the bottom half of that fourth was where the Sox did their real damage. After a single by David Ortiz and walks to both JD Drew and Mike Lowell,  the youngster Ryan Kalish came to bat with the bags juiced. And he didn't miss. Kalish blasted a grand slam to right-center field, his 2nd homer of the season, to give Boston the 5-0 lead. They would tack on another run in the fifth inning to win it, 6-0.

Clay Buchholz continued his domination with another stellar performance, hurling 7 shutout innings and surrendering just 5 hits. Buchholz struck out 3 and walked 2 batters. He improves to 14-5 on the season with an impressive 2.36 ERA -- both tops among the Sox starting rotation.

Buchholz will need to continue that type of production -- and the offense will, too -- in order for the Sox to catch their adversaries in the AL East. It's going to be tough. Boston has almost no room for error, given that they are chasing two very good teams in the Yankees and Rays. Both teams are winning their games right now, so it doesn't look like the Red Sox will gain any ground tonight. Still, it's good to see them put together a solid effort. If a few more guys can get hot at the right time, there's always the chance that this 5.5 game deficit can be chipped away by season's end.

Boston's second-to-last series of the year is a 3-game set against the Yankees. If all goes as we hope, it will come down to the final pitches -- literally.