Clay Buchholz (6.1-8-5-4-2, 104) had extreme difficulty with the lower third of Atlanta's order. The 7-8-9 hitters scored all five runs against Buchholz as Atlanta snapped its eight-game losing streak. Boston's four-game winning streak also came to an end.
After Hanley Ramirez's RBI-single gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the first inning (Boston has outscored its opponents 30-5 in the first inning of the last 18 games), Atlanta came storming back. With one out, Buchholz walked Jace Peterson and Erick Aybar was safe on an infield single. Mallex Smith hit a ground-rule double into the right field corner, tying the game at 1-1.