The Red Sox beat the Tigers last night 7-3 behind another strong performance by Clay Buchholz to pull one game above .500 and out of the basement once again. He seems to have successfully put that horrid start to the year behind him and is pitching like he should. Actually he’s pitching like a couple of other pitchers on the staff should be but unfortunately are not. *cough*Beckett*cough*Lester*cough*

The Tigers struck first when Austin Jackson hit the second pitch he saw for a home run to open the game. My first thought — uh oh. But the Sox didn’t get down on themselves. After Jacoby Ellsbury walked, Carl Crawford followed with an RBI triple — his first of the season. Dustin Pedroia knocked Crawford in with a ground ball out.

After Detroit tied up the game in the third, Pedroia came through again to put the Sox ahead for good with a two-run home run over the Monster. And Will Middlebrooks put the nail in the coffin with a two-run dinger of his own in the bottom of the eighth.

Clay Buchholz pitched a solid eight innings of work. He allowed five hits and three runs (two of them earned) and struck out four. Vicente Padilla pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the win. Buchholz was pleased with the all-around performance in last night’s win.

“It’s just all got to happen at the same time,” said Buchholz. “You’ve got to hit and pitch well to win games or go on a big streak that we need to go on. We’ve got to build some confidence, get on a little streak, and who knows where it will take us?”

Nice win for the Sox but it wasn’t without its drama. A frustrated Ryan Sweeney punched a door in the clubhouse following a tough out in the eighth inning and had to leave the game. Really, Ryan? Punching a door? Isn’t that a little childish? I wonder if he did it on purpose to take his name out of the trade rumors. He’ll have an x-ray today and will most likely be placed on the DL. *sigh*

Click here for the solid box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The Tigers and Sox face off again tonight in a matchup between Josh Beckett (5-9, 4.57) and Justin Verlander (11-6, 2.60) — that’s, of course, if Josh Beckett doesn’t get dealt before the 4pm trade deadline today. Rumor has it that the Texas Rangers are no longer interested in Beckett, but there still might be some life on a deal with either the LA Dodgers or the Atlanta Braves. If you’re going to send him away, Ben Cherington, just please, please, please don’t let him go for crap. Crap isn’t going to get us more wins. And we need more wins.