Sox Waste Strong Outing By Buchholz

Tampa Bay scored two runs in the bottom of the 7th and another in the bottom of the 8th to beat the Red Sox 5-3 at Tropicana Field.

Making his 1st start since coming off the disabled list, Clay Buchholz pitched 6 very strong innings and had a 3-2 lead over the Rays heading into the 7th inning. A walk, hit batter and sacrifice bunt put runners on 2nd and 3rd in the top of the 7th when manager Bobby Valentine pulled Buchholz (pictured) in favor of Matt Albers. A bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly closed the book on Buchholz who ended up with the loss.

Buchholz deserved better. He struck out 8 and walked only 1 in 6.1 innings, and allowed 3 earned runs.

Jacoby Ellsbury had a pair of hits for the Red Sox off Rays starter David Price, including a double in the top of the 8th inning. Will Middlebrooks also homered for the Sox off Price in the top of the 4th inning, a 2-run blast.