BOSTON - It was not Clay Buchholz's day on the mound. Luckily for the Red Sox, they had a quasi-reliever ready to go behind him.
Dependable for the majority of the 2015 season, Buchholz gave up three runs in the second inning, another in the fourth, and got into trouble enough trouble to get the hook in the fifth.
That's when Steven Wright, who threw 92 pitches on Thursday in a start, came out of the bullpen in relief.
Wright was moved to the bullpen from the rotation on Sunday, not because he didn't pitch well enough to earn his spot there, but because the team was going back to a five-man rotation and Joe Kelly edged him out.
The decision clearly didn't faze Wright, who after making his previous four appearances as a starter, came on to pitch 3.1 innings of scoreless relief.
For his effort, and thanks to the Red Sox seven-run eighth inning, Wright earned the win on Sunday.
"Well, thankfully he had two days off after 90-plus pitches against Minnesota because the 3.1 innings that he gave us today stabilized things, it allowed us to get through the game to the point of [Kendall] Graveman finally hitting his pitch limit and getting him out of the game," manager John Farrell said. "In the eighth inning, things took over, but you can't let the eighth inning take away from the work that Steven did today. It was an outstanding relief effort on his part."
Wright came on in the fifth inning with two on and two out and got Eric Sogard to fly out to right field. He allowed a walk in the sixth inning and a single in the seventh inning. That's it. Clearly, pitching out of the bullpen and pitching as a scheduled starter doesn't matter much to him.
"I just take the same approach no matter what I do," Wright said. "To me, the game plan, there really is no preparation other than just trying to throw quality knuckleballs, so for me it really doesn't matter. Nothing changes for me. Now I have to get ready within 15-20 pitches, rather than having the whole day."
Wright doesn't get caught up in when he pitches or where he pitches from. He makes it sound pretty simple out there.
"I throw knuckleballs, man," he said. "I just get up there and throw."