That Clay Buchholz pitched seven innings and allowed three earned runs against the Seattle Mariners on Monday afternoon seemed worthy of a celebration given how poorly the Red Sox have pitched in the last week.

But the strong effort was wasted in a 4-1 loss. Buchholz gave up six hits, walked one, and struck out eight, including the last four batters he faced. A poor fourth inning was his only problem.

"Clay did what he had to do," Bobby Valentine said.