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Sports Final: Important Inning For Clay Buchholz

BOSTON (CBS) -- Clay Buchholz didn't seem particularly enthused about his move to the Boston bullpen, but he made the most of it Sunday afternoon in Toronto.

Buchholz pitched a scoreless 10th inning against the Blue Jays, allowing one hit while striking out one, and picked up the win in Boston's 5-3 victory to help the team avoid a three-game sweep.

"It definitely felt a little different. That's the position I'm in," Buchholz told reporters after improving to 3-5 on the season. "I've got to help the team any way I can. It's just like when you're starting, but you don't know when you're pitching out of the bullpen, so it's a little different. That's part of it, part of the adjustment I'm going to have to make for the time being. I'm glad I could contribute today."

The Boston Herald's Steve Buckley joined Steve Burton on WBZ-TV's Sports Final on Sunday night, and said Buchholz's inning against the Jays was an important one for the Boston righty.

"You make the best of a bad station. Everyone wanted to run him out of town – 'he's no good, he's a bum, unfulfilled high expectations with a high ERA.' He takes a day and gets his head clear [and pitched] a very important inning. If he gets lit up what are we talking about? 'Get rid of Buchholz, he's a bum.' But now there is a little bit of sun coming over the horizon," said Buckley.

Buckley pointed to Dennis Eckersley's move to the bullpen midway through his career as to one of the reasons he is now in the Hall of Fame. That doesn't mean the ever-frustrating Buchholz is going to completely transform his career coming out of the pen, but Sunday was a good step in the right direction.

"I'm not saying Buchholz is going to the Hall of Fame. I'm simply saying that a lot of guys who were career starting pitchers, when they go to the bullpen they go filled with angst. So what are you going to do? You either make the best of a bad situation and rally, or you're going to stink and be the mop-up guy. That was an important inning in an important victory," he said.

Buckley also touched on the struggles of the Boston bullpen in Toronto and whether or not we should be worried about Ortiz's foot injury in the video above. Tune in to Sports Final every Sunday night at 11:35 p.m. on WBZ-TV!

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