This is an important start for Clay Bucholz making his return to Boston's starting rotation. He's in a great pitcher's park and has shown he's past his early-season problems. Buchholz has a 2.35 ERA during his past 15 1/3 innings. He's allowed just two runs during his last two starts.

Another key here is that Buchholz is fresh, which is rare and important for a starting pitcher this late into the season. He has thrown just one inning since last Tuesday and three innings since Aug. 24.

The Padres are 10 games under .500 since the All-Star break and in full rebuild mode. One of their major weaknesses is the bottom of the rotation where Paul Clemens is going to make his eighth start for them. Clemens is 1-4 with a 4.79 ERA. He is averaging 4 1/3 innings per start. Clemens is bad and so is the Padres' bullpen. The Red Sox are No. 1 in the league in runs and batting average. They also have won 15 of their last 21 interleague games.