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Short Straw, Big Win by Jared Carrabis
Buchholz gets the better of Roy Halladay

For the third straight start, Clay Buchholz drew the short straw.

First it was CC Sabathia, then came Justin Verlander, and on Wednesday night, Buchholz had to try his luck against one of the best pitchers in the past decade, Roy Halladay. Although Buchholz may have been 0-2 in his previous two starts, the right-hander pitched brilliantly, but his offense was nowhere to be found to support his efforts.

Despite being up against one of the top arms the game has to offer, Buchholz had the advantage of his offense swinging the bats really well as of late. However, Halladay can make any hot offense go cold in a hurry.

Regardless of how dominant Halladay may be, the Red Sox had the advantage of being in the same division as the right-hander. If you see a certain pitcher enough times, nothing is guaranteed anymore (ask Mariano Rivera). In the top of the second, David Ortiz came to the plate for the 89th time in his career against the Doc.

Dating back to his days with Minnesota, Ortiz has had Halladay's number. Ortiz would add onto his career .837 OPS against Halladay by bombing a solo home run to right field to give Boston the lead. It was home run number six for Ortiz off of Halladay, as well as RBI number 23 for the certain Hall of Famer-to-be.

Later in the inning, newly acquired Alex Gonzalez tagged a ground ball RBI single back up the middle to drive in Boston's second run.

Buchholz held up his end of the bargain, holding the Jays to just one earned run that came on an RBI single by Vernon Wells in the bottom of the forth. When his day was done, the right-hander hurled six solid innings of work, giving up just the one earned run, while striking out four and walking one. Buchholz lowered his ERA under four (3.99) on Wednesday, including pitching out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth.

"Confidence has a big thing to do with that," Buchholz said. "The last two games I've pitched prior to this were against two really good ballclubs. [I] didn't come out on top, but still felt good about the outings. Coming into this outing, confidence is good to be high against a team like this."

Jacoby Ellsbury has spent parts of just three seasons in the bigs, but has impressive numbers against Toronto's ace. With a .353 career average against Halladay, Ellsbury stepped to the plate with Gonzalez standing at third and didn't wait around before legging out his sixth triple of the season to up the Sox' lead to 3-0.

In the top of the fifth with Kevin Youkilis standing at first, Jason Bay tattooed a two-run shot down the left field line for his 27th home run of the season. The pair of runs driven in by Bay provided Buchholz with a four-run cushion that Boston would carry into the ninth inning.

With Toronto already facing a four-run deficit at the very least in the last of the ninth, Victor Martinez came to the plate batting from the left side. Facing Brandon League, Martinez popped a 99 MPH fastball over the wall in left field for his 19th home run of the season. Martinez's solo shot was the final blow in an attempt to earn a very deserving win for his battery mate.

It was then that Terry Francona summoned Takashi Saito from the Boston bullpen. In impressive fashion, Saito closed out the middle-game of this series by striking out the side on 15 pitches. The win puts the Red Sox a win away from sweeping the Blue Jays on their home turf.

"We made him work for everything and got him out of the game," Francona said. "Sometimes that's the best way to beat somebody like Halladay."

Final Score: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 1

Things you'll need to know to impress your friends:

David Ortiz has now homered in three consecutive games and in four of his last five. His six career home runs off of Roy Halladay are the most he has hit off of any pitcher, and coincidentally, Ortiz's six home runs are the most Halladay has allowed to any batter.

Clay Buchholz may be 1-2 in his last three starts, but you can file that record in the "bad luck" cabinet. In his last three outings against the Yankees, Tigers and Blue Jays, Buchholz has pitched masterfully, with a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings of work. Although these numbers don't reflect his overall performance this year, Buchholz is 2-0 against the Jays and 0-3 against every other team.

Jason Bay continued his resurgence at the plate on Wednesday night with his 27th home run of 2009. Bay has now homered in seven of his last eleven games.

Thursday's pitching match-up:

Aiming a sweep before heading into what very well may be Boston's last run at the AL East, Jon Lester will get the ball against Brett Cecil. Lester allowed three earned runs against the Sox' Wild Card competitors in his last outing, but still managed to strike out eleven batters, coming just one K shy of his career high. Lester holds a 3.33 ERA in his career against the Jays, while the 23-year-old Cecil has been nursing an ailing knee injury.

Eye on the scoreboard:

Yankees 3, Athletics 2
Orioles 1, Rays 3
Twins 5, Rangers 4

Result: The Red Sox break an even tie in the Wild Card standings and now lead the Texas Rangers by a game. With the Yankees winning yet again, the Sox remain seven games back with the possibility of heading into their weekend series with the Bombers 6.5 back if the Sox can sweep (the Yankees are off on Thursday). With their win on Wednesday, the Rays are 10 games out in the East, but are just three games back of the Sox.

Jerry Remy update:

And now for the words you've all been waiting for: Jerry Remy is returning to the NESN broadcast booth! It's been a long and difficult process for the beloved Boston figure, but after winning his battles with cancer, infections and depression, the President of Red Sox Nation is returning back home to Fenway Park this Friday night for the first game of the Yankee series. I am beyond excited to hear this news and am ecstatic to be able to report it to all of you.

In his blog, which can be read by clicking here, Remy writes, "I'm excited to announce that I will be back in the NESN booth again starting this Friday night. You think I would miss another series with the Yankees!? I will be easing back into things so don’t be surprised if I am not on the road trips. That said, I am excited to be back in the booth with D.O. on Friday. I will bring Wally, his Adirondack chair and hopefully a little luck for the Sox."

Book update:

For those of you who have been following the process of the book that I have written called One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, it is with pride and excitement that I can finally unveil the release date! My book will finally be ready to ship on August 28, 2009. The 352 page book is complete with a foreword generously written by none other than Jerry Remy himself. I'd just like to thank everyone that has pushed me throughout the 21-month long process that has been the production of my debut book, I couldn't have made this announcement without any of you. I'll be planning a release party in Boston in the next few days and will be hosting a book signing at the Barnes and Noble in Saugus, MA at a date to be named later. I'd love for you all to be there! I will post more info as soon as it becomes available to me. For more information on my book, click here!

-Jared Carrabis