TORONTO – Extra rest for Clay Buchholz and a little sleep for most of his teammates added up to a seventh straight win for the Boston Red Sox.
Despite arriving at their hotel about the same time the morning rush hour was beginning, the Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series.
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“I think everybody’s tired, I know I was, but I thought it was a workmanlike night,” Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said of his team that played a rain-delayed game in New York until 1:43 a.m. Friday. “We’ve got to show up (today) after a quick turnaround and play good again.”
Francona credited Buchholz (5-3), who was given an extra two days’ rest to help him deal with a sore back. The right-hander allowed three hits over seven innings while striking out six and walking two.
“When you’ve got something nagging, you don’t want to mess it up any more than it already is so you sort of try to favor it a little bit,” Buchholz said. “Tonight I wasn’t favoring it and I was able to get some good extensions on some pitches that I needed to be extended on. It definitely felt a little different than it has the last couple of starts out.”
Buchholz, whose planned early flight to Toronto ended up getting canceled, said fatigue became less of a factor once the game began.
“Once you step between the lines everything usually just stops for you and you can run on some adrenaline, especially at this level,” he said. “So that’s what I went out there doing.”
Jacoby Ellsbury went 3 for 5 with three runs scored and AL RBI leader Adrian Gonzalez drove in two runs to lead the Red Sox.
Gonzalez’s fifth-inning single gave him seven consecutive games with at least one run driven in. He drove in another run with a ground-rule double off reliever Shawn Camp in the ninth that made it 5-1.
“It’s just guys in front of me are getting on base and giving me opportunities every time,” Gonzalez said. “RBIs are not a personal thing.”
Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia each drove in a run for Boston, which improved its league-best record to 37-26.
Pedroia, who returned to the lineup after missing Thursday’s series finale in New York so doctors could examine his sore right knee, finished 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.
The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for Toronto starter Jo-Jo Reyes and dropped the Blue Jays to .500 (32-32).
Reyes (2-5) had gone a record-tying 28 starts without a win before beating Cleveland 11-1 on May 30 in the first complete game of his career.
The left-hander gave up eight hits and two walks before Blue Jays Manager John Farrell replaced him with Luis Perez with one out and a runner on first in the seventh.
MATSUZAKA SURGERY: Right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka had elbow reconstruction surgery Friday.
Dr. Lewis Yocum performed the operation. Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said the noted surgeon was pleased with the results.
Francona said Matsuzaka has an appointment with Yocum in 10 days, then he should be able to “start doing things.”
Matsuzaka is in the fifth year of a six-year deal he signed when Boston brought him over from Japan.
Lefty reliever Rich Hill on Thursday also had Tommy John surgery. Francona said Hill told him that he was doing well.
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