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Clay Buchholz had another mediocre showing on the mound but was bailed out with major run support from his Red Sox teammates, who managed to break their 4-game losing streak with an 8-6 win over the Athletics on Friday night. Coming back from a 4-0 deficit after the top of the 1st inning, the Sox got some offensive help from the usual suspects Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis, as well as some key contributions from Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, Jed Lowrie and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

The win puts them at second place in the AL East, just 1 game behind the New York Yankees and 2 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays. Continuing their chase to get back to first place, the Sox will play the second of their three-game series against Oakland on Saturday, 1pm at Fenway Park.

Scoring Summary and Pitching Changes

Top of 1st

• (1-0) DeJesus scores on Matsui ground single
• (2-0) Matsui scores on Burton single, leaves 2 men on
• (4-0) Ellis singles to center, Suzuki and Barton score

Bottom of 1st

• (4-1) Ellsbury singles to center, steals 2nd, gets to 3rd on a wild pitch and scores on a Gonzalez ground out
• (4-2) Youkilis scores on an Ortiz single to left field

Bottom of 2nd

• (4-3) Cameron safe at 2nd on Kouzmanoff error, scores on Ellsbury sac fly

Bottom of 3rd

• (4-4) Youkilis walked, scores on Ortiz double to left field
• (4-5) Ortiz scores on a Lowrie base hit to center
• Moscoso relieves Outman

Top of 4th

• (5-5) Crisp hits ground out to first, Kouzmanoff scores

Top of 5th

• (6-5) Willingham scores on Barton single to right field
• Atchison relieves Buchholz

Top of 6th

• Hottovy relieves Atchison

Bottom of 6th

• Breslow relieves Moscoso

Top of 7th

• Jenks relieves Hottovy

Bottom of 7th

• Devine relieves Breslow
• Fuentes relieves Devine
• (6-7) Crawford singles to center with bases loaded, Gonzalez and Youkilis score

Top of 8th

• Bard relieves Jenks

Bottom of 8th

• Huertz relieves Fuentes
• (6-8) Saltalamacchia 421 ft homer to right field

Top of 9th

• Papelbon relieves Bard

Gold stars for these guys

David Ortiz continues to be Ole Faithful, delivering 2 RBI on 2 hits and scoring 1 run while batting in the important 5th spot behind Gonzalez and Youkilis.

Jacoby Ellsbury deserves credit for setting the tone early offensively; stealing a base and displaying great base running on a wild pitch to get to third; putting him in a position to score on a what would have been a fruitless ground out from Gonzo.

Jonathan Papelbon continues to have a much improved season from 2010, throwing 9 strikes in 11 pitches and earning his 11th save on the year.

An “N” on their report card: “Needs Improvement”

Dustin Pedroia was nowhere to be found for the evening, producing absolutely nothing in 5 at bats. While the rest of the 5 guys at the top of the order are holding down their end of the bargain, Pedroia seems to be struggling to find a groove. Luckily he doesn’t usually slump for too long.

Clay Buchholz, anytime you get your team into a 4-0 hole in the first inning of a game, you are setting them up to struggle. Fortunately the Red Sox have hit their stride at the plate lately, so the pitching woes have been somewhat underplayed. While Buccholz’ ERA of 3.82 is pretty good, he’s had some extremely shaky starts that are unsettling. He needs to work on starting out strong in early innings to set the tone for himself and his club.

About Tanya Ray Fox - My Twitter

I am 24 years old, and I work on the sports desk for the premier Boston sports station, Comcast SportsNet New England. My first and lasting love is with the New England Patriots, and then I split my allegiances between the Sox, Celtics and Bruins. I have grown up here and have a passion for all things Boston sports, not just because it is an amazing sports town, but because as a writer we are blessed to always have something to talk about!

Tags: Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Clay Buchholz, Kevin Youkilis, Oakland A's, Red Sox