BOSTON — Manny Ramirez buttoned up a Dodger blue dress shirt, knotted a solid red tie around his neck and left the visitor’s clubhouse to pose for pictures and sign autographs for fans waiting outside.
Then he left Boston without a word for reporters – or a win.
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Facing the Red Sox for the first time since he helped them win two World Series, Ramirez had two of Los Angeles’ four hits on Sunday night – not nearly enough as Clay Buchholz and two relievers shut out the Dodgers 2-0 to complete a three-game sweep.
“It’s nice to win a tight game like this,” said second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who had a triple and two singles and also advanced after a stolen base when he noticed no one was covering third. “We only needed a couple of runs. The pitching was dominant, so it was great that we could get that one early.”
The Red Sox have won six in a row. They finished their interleague homestand with an 8-1 record and improved to 16-4 in their last 20 games against NL teams.
Buchholz (10-4) allowed three hits, three walks and two hit batsmen while striking out four to win for the seventh time in his past eight starts.
“Just a maturing young pitcher,” Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said. “His stuff is so good, now that he’s got some repetition under his belt the game doesn’t speed up for him.”
Daniel Bard got four outs and Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 16th save and Boston’s sixth shutout.
“We haven’t had a lot of opportunities here,” Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said. “Buchholz in the first two innings went through a lot of pitches, then he got back. That was key. We’re struggling to score runs.”
Pedroia was the key to the only run the Red Sox needed.
He stole second in the first inning and continued to third after catcher Russell Martin’s throw trickled into center field. The play was backed up, but the Dodgers had shifted the infield with lefty David Ortiz at the plate, and pitcher Hiroki Kuroda didn’t cover third in time.
“If you’re just a hair late, it’s not going to work. But his instincts are so good,” said Francona, who at first thought the ball wasn’t far enough away for Pedroia to advance. “I thought he had too many Red Bulls. But that was great base running, and we needed it.”
Ortiz walked, then Kevin Youkilis hit a check-swing dribbler that third baseman Casey Blake ran past, hoping it would go foul. The ball rolled down the line and hit the base as Pedroia scored to make it 1-0.
“It turns out they scored a run, so it was a crucial play of the game,” Kuroda (6-5) said through a translator.
Boston made it 2-0 in the third. Marco Scutaro led off with a single, went to third on Pedroia’s single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ortiz.
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