ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Had the Red Sox traded Clay Buchholz to a National League team for a second-tier prospect last month, few would have been surprised. His spot on the roster appeared to have more value than any contribution the righthander was capable of.
Buchholz was 3-6 with a 6.14 earned run average at the All-Star break and had been relegated to the bullpen. His role was to wait.
But the Sox held on to Buchholz believing that he was a better choice to pick up a spot start than any of the pitchers they had in Triple A.
“I don’t know that we ever truly lost faith in the talent of Clay,’’ said manager John Farrell, who was the pitching coach when Buchholz broke into the majors in 2007.
Buchholz pitched occasionally in relief and improved incrementally, finding comfortable mechanics pitching exclusively out of the stretch. When an opportunity came to go back in the rotation, he was ready.
Buchholz made his best start of the season on Tuesday night, working into the seventh inning as the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-1.
He allowed one run on five hits and struck out a season-high nine with two walks. In three starts filling in for the injured Steven Wright, Buchholz has allowed five runs over 16⅔ innings with the Sox winning twice.
“He’s playing a huge role for us right now,’’ Farrell said.
The Red Sox have won 10 of 12 and are 7-2 on an 11-game road trip that has turned from dreaded to delightful. They remain tied atop the American League East with the Toronto Blue Jays, who beat the Los Angeles Angels, 7-2.
Buchholz wondered at one point if a trade would be the best thing for all involved. Now there is satisfaction he stuck it out. He has a 2.89 ERA in 10 appearances since the All-Star break, holding opponents to a .221 batting average.
“In this organization, doing a little bit bad is doing really bad because you hear about it from everywhere,’’ Buchholz said. “I’ve learned to deal with that . . . I’m going forward now.’’
Buchholz (5-9) worked himself out of several jams against the Rays.
He got Tim Beckham on a grounder to shortstop to end the first inning and leave two stranded. Buchholz hit Logan Forsythe with a pitch to start the third inning, but quickly dispatched the next three hitters.
The fifth inning saw Corey Dickerson single and advance on a wild pitch. He then scored on a two-out double to right field by Kevin Kiermaier.
Tampa Bay’s best hitter, Evan Longoria, was next. Buchholz ended a seven-pitch battle with a changeup on the outside corner that was taken as a called third strike. Longoria dropped his bat in disgust.
“Probably the best backdoor changeup I’ve probably every thrown,’’ Buchholz said.
Buchholz walked Brad Miller to start the sixth inning then got Beckham to ground into a double play smartly turned by second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
Buchholz came back out for the seventh inning and struck out Steven Souza Jr. With Buchholz at 94 pitches and the lefthanded-hitting Dickerson next, Farrell came out of the dugout. Buchholz left the mound to loud cheers from the many Red Sox fans in the crowd of 11,249 at Tropicana Field.
“To carry his stuff as deep as he did today, that was an encouraging and very strong outing,’’ Farrell said.
Robbie Ross Jr., Brad Ziegler, and Craig Kimbrel (23d save) got the final eight outs. For the second consecutive night, a defensive play in the eighth inning drew raves.
On Monday, it was Andrew Benintendi leaping over a wall to steal a home run. This time it was Mookie Betts showing off his improved arm.
With one out, Kiermaier lined a sinker to the right field corner. As Betts chased down the ball, Kiermaier tried for third.
Betts made a strong and accurate throw. Travis Shaw waited to the last second to bring the tag down and Kiermaier was out.
“Kind of in shock over there at third base how I got thrown out,’’ Kiermaier said. “I watched the video after the game and saw he made an absolutely perfect throw.’’
Betts was surprised, too. “I didn’t know I could really do that,’’ he said.
Betts, who was drafted as a second baseman, has been working on his arm strength since converting to the outfield in 2014. He was on the field four hours before the game, fielding grounders at shortstop and throwing the ball with zip to bench coach Torey Lovullo at first.
Betts then took balls in right field and focused on making throws to second base with enough backspin to create velocity and carry.
“I work on my accuracy while I’m in the infield then I go to the outfield and work on the strength,’’ Betts said. “I guess it works.’’
Tampa Bay righthander Chris Archer beat the Red Sox the first time he faced them, as a rookie in 2012. He hasn’t done it since.
Archer allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits over five innings. He is 1-10 with a 5.56 ERA in 14 starts against the Sox. Both runs he allowed came in the third inning.
Benintendi led off with a single to center and moved up when Pedroia grounded out. With two outs, David Ortiz found a hole in the shift and singled to right field. Benintendi scored easily.
When Betts singled down the line in right field, Ortiz rumbled to third base. Souza came up throwing, but his heave went awry and Ortiz scored on the overthrow.
As the dugout pointed him toward the plate, Ortiz scored without a play, his sore feet having traversed 270 feet.
“I’m OK. No pain, no gain,’’ Ortiz said.
