AP News
(2009-08-30 02:29:18)
BOSTON (Reuters) - Closer Jonathan Papelbon halted a two-run ninth-inning rally by the Toronto Blue Jays to help the Boston Red Sox hold on for a 3-2 victory on Saturday.
Papelbon replaced reliever Hideki Okajima, who had given up back-to-back run-scoring hits by Adam Lind and Lyle Overbay in the top of the ninth, to retire the final two batters and record his 32nd save of the season.
Boston starter Clay Buchholz had been sailing along with a three-hit shutout before he was pulled in the ninth after one out and a runner on first, and replaced by Okajima.
"I would have liked to stay out there and pitched, but it was the most pitches (107) that I've thrown all year," Buchholz told reporters after being pulled by manager Terry Francona.
Buchholz (3-3) struck out nine and walked two. All his wins this season have come against the Blue Jays.
The only hits he allowed were singles by Kevin Millar in the second, Overbay in the seventh and Jose Bautista in the ninth.
"That was a terrific game," Francona told reporters.
"He threw strikes with a lot of pitches. Changuep, breaking ball, fastball -- he really pitched well."
The win kept the Red Sox two-and-a-half games ahead of the Texas Rangers in the American League wild card race.
Dustin Pedroia gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead with a first-inning single before Alex Gonzalez's single in the sixth made it 2-0. Boston's third run came on a bases-loaded walk three batters later.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by John O'Brien)
