The Red Sox put away the Miami Marlins 7-5 last night — their fifth win in their last six games. Granted, the teams they’ve beaten (the Marlins and the Cubs) have sub .500 records, but hey, a win’s a win, right? At this point in the season I’m not going to be picky. I just want wins. I want this team to show some life and get their butts out of that dreaded last place spot. Watch out Toronto! Here we come. Maybe.

Clay Buchholz won his eighth… huh? Let me try that again. Clay Buchholz won his eighth. I’m sorry, after the start he had to this season, I never expected to ever be typing those words. Not only that, but Clay also leads the team in wins. My head is spinning.

Buchholz wasn’t as sharp last night as his previous June outings. He did surrender five earned runs on nine hits during his six-inning stint. All five Marlins’ runs were knocked in by DH Logan Morrison who hit a 2-run home run in the first and RBI doubles in the second and fifth innings. But the bullpen was once again spot on with Matt Albers, Andrew Miller, Vicente Padilla and Alfredo Aceves pitching a scoreless seven-eight-nine. Aceves struck out two in the ninth for his 17th save.

The Red Sox got home runs from David Ortiz (his 17th), Kelly Shoppach and Cody Ross (who is fresh off the DL) and doubles from Dustin Pedroia, Mike Aviles, Kevin Youkilis, Will Middlebrooks and Daniel Nava to power the offense. It’s nice to see this hard hitting line up when it clicks like that. And Buchholz needed all the help he could get from the offense. After the game, Cody Ross spoke to reporters about his home run:

“It’s big to get that first one out of the way,” said Red Sox outfielder Cody Ross. “I can’t really explain it — the way we’ve played at home this year is really weird. We all love playing here, obviously. This is a great place to play, and to get that first one on a long home stand is really encouraging. Hopefully we can just go out and get on a good winning streak.”

Click on over to here for the winning box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox and Fish are back at it tonight in what promises to be a steamy Fenway with temps in the 90′s today. Felix Doubront will shoot for his eighth win of the season. I hope he likes the heat. I’ll be at Fenway tonight, most likely sitting in a puddle of my own sweat. Gross.