Red Sox Video

Buchholz's strong start

Buchholz's solid start

Blue Jays Video

Marcum's 10 strikeouts

Marcum strikes out eight

Buchholz faced the Blue Jays in Rogers Centre on April 27 and put together one of his best performances of the year, throwing eight innings of one-run ball to lead the Red Sox to victory. The right-hander, throwing less than half of his pitches inside the strike zone, benefited greatly from the free-swinging style of Toronto's power hitters.

"That just comes from guys hitting and putting themselves in a situation where they'll swing the bat at an 1-0 pitch -- or, if it's 0-1, they swing at a pitch they might not usually swing at," Buchholz said. "It's a team that's free-swinging and has a lot of power, and they can hit the ball out of the park on any pitch."

Marcum earned a no-decision in the April 27 game against the Red Sox, but he was great in his own right. The right-hander tossed seven innings and gave up just one run on four hits and three walks.

His next start against Boston was even better, however, as he went seven innings and scattered only two hits while surrendering one walk -- his strongest performance of the year. Marcum will be looking to bounce back from a shaky start against the Yankees, in which he allowed five runs on eight hits, including Alex Rodriguez's 600th career home run.

"It was one of those days you had to battle," Marcum said.

Buchholz has been on fire in his past three outings since giving up five runs on six hits and three walks in an 87-pitch, four-inning performance in Oakland. Since then, he has allowed five earned runs in 22 1/3 innings, walked only five batters and struck out 16.

"You get something out of every start," Buchholz said. "Even if it's bad, you can take some good out of the bad and keep moving forward. But as far as confidence goes, confidence builds with every start when you go out there and throw the ball well."

Red Sox: Splitter key for Papelbon

Jonathan Papelbon said he always tries to take pride in the second half of the season, as that's what he prepares the most for, and he has put that mentality into action so far. The closer picked up his 29th save of the season Tuesday night in his 11th appearance since the All-Star break. He hasn't been the same All-Star closer who tore through opponents in his first four seasons, but he has shown a much-improved splitter that could help complement his mid-90s fastball and carry him through the stretch run.

"I think it is better," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "It's got some power to it, with some depth. I think if you talk to any pitcher that throws a split, I kind of harken back to [Curt Schilling]. It sort of can come and go. When it's there, it's really nice, a pitcher knows he has a way to go. As hard as Pap was throwing yesterday, having that really helps.

"That down [action gives] a different look. It used to be the same with Schill all the time. Schill could be good, but when he didn't have his split, he had to work harder to be good."

Blue Jays: Wells expected to be back

Outfielder Vernon Wells was left out of Tuesday night's starting lineup with a dislocated big right toe. Wells sustained the injury during Brandon Morrow's near-no-hitter Sunday against the Rays while making a catch that sent him crashing into the wall. Wells said he was feeling better after an off-day Monday, though his toe was not yet at 100 percent. Manager Cito Gaston said he expected Wells to return to the starting lineup Wednesday.

"No fractures," Wells said. "Just going to be sore, [it's] got some good color to it -- [I'm going to] keep doing treatment. Went out and did some drills today. I'm kind of hardheaded, I told them I could play today, but they told me not to, [and that] I should probably just give it one more day to die down."

Worth noting

Dustin Pedroia passed all his running tests Tuesday in Toronto, calling it his best day since going on the disabled list with a fractured navicular bone in his left foot. The second baseman will run the bases Wednesday and Thursday, see foot specialist George Theodore on Friday in Boston, and he could play for Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday and Sunday before rejoining Boston next Tuesday at Fenway Park. ... Blue Jays left-hander Brett Cecil will have his scheduled start on Thursday pushed back to Saturday in Anaheim. Cecil injured his right knee earlier this week climbing stairs at Rogers Centre. ... Four days after being placed on the disabled list, Hideki Okajima resumed throwing on Tuesday. The left-handed reliever, out with a strained right hamstring, spent the weekend in Boston receiving acupuncture treatments.