Strikeouts and ground balls will set you free.
Through the first 2 innings, Clay Buchholz allowed 5 baserunners. And 0 runs.
After the Rays loaded the bases in the first inning with 1 out, Buchholz induced a ground ball out of John Jaso, resulting in an inning ending double play. With a 2nd-and-3rd, 1 out situation in the 2nd, Clay simply struck out the next 2 batters.
With those early bullets dodged, Clay proceeded to dominate the Rays lineup for the next 4 innings. He allowed a lone run to Carlos Pena on a home run, but ended the night with 6 innings of 1-run ball, 8 strikeouts, and only 1 walk.
The offense, meanwhile gave him a ton of support against a very good Rays staff. David Ortiz got it started with his 9th home run of the year--a blast on an inside fastball around the pole in right in the second inning. Then the Sox started getting patient, and worked 3 runs in without an extra base hit. 3 singles and 3 walks--including one with the bases loaded all-but driving Wade Davis from the game.
Davis would end up exiting in the next inning after giving up a 2-out single to Jason Varitek (Tek entered the game for Victor Martinez who, after taking a foul tip off his left foot in the 3rd inning, hobbled down to first following a walk). Kevin Youkilis greeted reliever Lance Cormier with a 2-run shot to left field, giving the Sox their final 2 runs. Hideki Okajima and Dan Bard combined for 3 scoreless innings to end it, and the Red Sox took game 1.