Red Sox vs. Braves lineups: Sox take aim at the sweep behind Buchholz

The Red Sox are gunning for a four-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves Thursday night in Fenway Park as they send Clay Buchholz to the mound.

Alright, so, depending on how you define these home-and-home series, maybe they're gunning for their second sweep of the Braves. But one way or another, they're looking to make it four straight over Atlanta, five straight overall, and perhaps even get into first place if the Orioles prove more accommodating tonight against the White Sox.

To make that happen, they'll need Clay Buchholz to, well, work. He was close, so very close, to establishing some momentum when last he took the mound. He was coming off 6.2 scoreless against the Jays, and was one out away from another good start against the Astros when he threw that damn fastball to Colby Rasmus. If it weren't for that one pitch, we might be talking about the Red Sox making it seven straight wins.

But he did throw that pitch, and now the Red Sox are looking for him to show that the 11 innings leading up to it weren't just a positive blip on an all-too-dire radar. Boston finally seems to be putting something together with their rotation thanks to the emergence of Steven Wright and the resurgence of Rick Porcello. Clay Buchholz, however, remains at best a question mark. And while no start against the Braves can change that...it can at least help.

First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.