"I hope it will be really good," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said recently. "He's a guy that, when he's going good, has the ability to go multiple innings, get lefties, righties. That's been missed a little bit the last couple of weeks."
He had a successful rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket last Friday when he gave up two runs over 3 2/3 innings.
"I expected to be a little bit rusty," Buchholz said of his rehab start. "I basically went in wanting velocity and everything to be there, and not notice that I was favoring anything, so that's what I went out there to do. Everything felt good."
Countering Buchholz will be A's starter Gio Gonzalez, who has pitched effectively lately. Gonzalez has won two of his last three starts, and in his two wins, he's given up just one earned run over 13 2/3 innings.
Red Sox: Hermida, Lowell on mend
Left fielder Jeremy Hermida, on the 15-day disabled list since June 11 with fractured ribs, had his rehab stint transferred to Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday and went 0-for-4. He is expected to join the Red Sox later this week. Infielder Third baseman Mike Lowell will begin his rehab with Triple-A on Thursday.
A's: Sweeney latest to DL
The A's placed Ryan Sweeney on the disabled list Monday, marking the 18th time this season the A's have placed someone on the DL. The 18 players have combined to miss 741 games this season. Since the start of the 2007 season, the A's have used the DL 82 times.
Worth noting
The A's have a 21-10 record in day games and a 26-37 record in night games. ... The Red Sox have hit 30 home runs in their last 22 games. ... Red Sox second baseman Bill Hall has hit safely in six of his last eight road games.
Wed, 7/21 3:35 PM ET


| HITTER | AVG | AB | HR | RBI |
|---|
| HITTER | AVG | AB | HR | RBI |
|---|
Elementary, Watson: A's solve Sox at home
Matt Watson hit his first career home run and Jack Cust added a two-run shot, helping the A's take the series over the Red Sox, who got three RBIs from Adrian Beltre in Clay Buchholz's ineffective return from the DL.
Athletics Beat
| Boston | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McDonald, D, LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .263 |
| a-Patterson, E, PH-LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .204 |
| Lowrie, SS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
| Ortiz, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .250 |
| Youkilis, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .299 |
| Beltre, A, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .339 |
| Drew, J, RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .270 |
| Cameron, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .275 |
| Hall, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .231 |
| b-Nava, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .286 |
| Brown, D, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .143 |
| c-Scutaro, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .278 |
| Totals | 33 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 12 | .272 |
| Oakland | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennington, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .264 |
| Barton, 1B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .278 |
| Suzuki, K, C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .257 |
| Cust, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .289 |
| Kouzmanoff, 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .270 |
| Ellis, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .282 |
| Watson, M, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .143 |
| 1-Gross, PR-RF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .240 |
| Davis, R, RF-LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .266 |
| Crisp, CF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .239 |
| Totals | 34 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 18 | .262 |
1-Ran for Watson, M in the 7th.
2B: Hall (8, Gonzalez, G).
HR: Beltre, A (16, 6th inning off Gonzalez, G, 1 on, 0 out).
TB: Lowrie; Youkilis 2; Beltre, A 6; Drew, J; Hall 2.
RBI: Beltre, A 3 (61), Lowrie (1).
2-out RBI: Beltre, A; Lowrie.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cameron 2; Ortiz; Youkilis.
GIDP: Hall; Drew, J.
Team RISP: 2-for-7.
Team LOB: 6.
BASERUNNING
SB: Beltre, A (2, 2nd base off Gonzalez, G/Suzuki, K), Hall (4, 3rd base off Gonzalez, G/Suzuki, K).
FIELDING
E: Youkilis (3, missed catch), Lowrie (1, throw).
PB: Brown, D (1).
Outfield assists: Cameron 2 (Davis, R at 2nd base, Crisp at home).
DP: 2 (Hall-Youkilis, Cameron-Brown, D).
2B: Kouzmanoff (19, Atchison), Barton (23, Bowden).
3B: Crisp (4, Bowden).
HR: Watson, M (1, 2nd inning off Buchholz, C, 0 on, 1 out), Cust (6, 3rd inning off Buchholz, C, 1 on, 1 out).
TB: Barton 3; Suzuki, K 2; Cust 5; Kouzmanoff 2; Ellis; Watson, M 4; Davis, R; Crisp 4.
RBI: Watson, M (1), Cust 2 (26), Ellis (24), Davis, R 2 (30).
2-out RBI: Davis, R 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Barton; Davis, R 2; Suzuki, K.
GIDP: Kouzmanoff.
Team RISP: 2-for-10.
Team LOB: 9.
BASERUNNING
CS: Crisp (2, 2nd base by Atchison/Brown, D).
FIELDING
DP: 2 (Ellis-Pennington-Barton, Ziegler-Pennington-Barton).
| Boston | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buchholz, C(L, 10-5) | 4.0 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2.81 |
| Atchison | 2.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.93 |
| Bowden | 1.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4.30 |
| Oakland | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gonzalez, G(W, 9-6) | 6.0 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3.75 |
| Rodriguez, H(H, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4.26 |
| Ziegler(H, 13) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.76 |
| Wuertz(S, 2) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.71 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3.78 |
WP: Buchholz, C, Gonzalez, G.
Balk: Buchholz, C.
Pitches-strikes: Buchholz, C 87-56, Atchison 41-24, Bowden 19-9, Gonzalez, G 107-59, Rodriguez, H 32-18, Ziegler 7-4, Wuertz 15-8.
Groundouts-flyouts: Buchholz, C 7-1, Atchison 1-2, Bowden 0-3, Gonzalez, G 7-2, Rodriguez, H 0-2, Ziegler 2-0, Wuertz 0-1.
Batters faced: Buchholz, C 22, Atchison 11, Bowden 6, Gonzalez, G 26, Rodriguez, H 5, Ziegler 3, Wuertz 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Atchison 2-2, Bowden 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Angel Campos. 1B: Alfonso Marquez. 2B: Tim Tschida. 3B: Bob Davidson.
Weather: 56 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 16 mph, Out to RF.
T: 3:02.
Att: 30,456.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media
















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