Buchholz gets win — and ‘save’

Before the game, manager Terry Francona ticked off the names of the unavailable relievers. There was Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard and Hideki Okajima. None of them would see the mound. That left little wiggle room.

“That was a gutsy performance,’’ Francona said of Buchholz. “I think he threw 80 strikes tonight. The way their guy was throwing, there’s no room for error.’’

It took a career-high 117 pitches, but Buchholz was everything the Sox could have wanted in a 2-1 win in front of 14,776 at Rogers Centre, their sixth straight victory by one run. They needed only Ramon Ramirez out of the bullpen, the reliever getting his second career save and first with the Sox, as the rest of the pen got a chance to rest.

“I think Buch was huge. Huge, huge, huge,’’ Mike Lowell said. “Our bullpen’s been taxed a little bit the last couple days, so I think we needed that. I like the fact that he has a confidence. He’s always been willing to throw every pitch in any count, but I think [last night] it was strike one. It was big.

“I don’t think you can really say on any hitter it was this pattern. So when he throws strikes, the hitters are really guessing because he’s not like this power arm that’s just coming on fastballs and mixing in a slider here and there. He really has four good pitches. I’d say the key for him was throwing strikes, and he did. I don’t think we can undervalue how important his start was.’’

One night after Josh Beckett lasted just two batters into the fourth, Buchholz went eight. He was the ace that the ace hadn’t been, throwing a four-seamer on the inside corner to catch Lyle Overbay looking with a man on second and one out in a one-run game in the eighth, after an error by third baseman Adrian Beltre had helped put the runner in scoring position.

And that strikeout was particularly impressive, given the first baseman’s numbers. As Buchholz said after the game, “Overbay, that guy hits me better than anybody that I’ve ever faced.’’