Red Sox @ Royals: Buchholz due for a road win?

Clay Buchholz hasn't earned a win since May 2nd. He went 0-3 in 4 starts in July, finishing with a 6.75 ERA for the month. He did run into the red-hot Angels twice, but the fact is, Bucky just hasn't pitched well since his return to the bigs.

He did finally get beyond the 5th inning in his last start, but gave up 6 runs (5 earned ) over 6.1 innings and took the loss. John Lackey's near no-hitter didn't help Buccholz or the Sox offense any...

Now, Clay will be asked to help keep a new winning streak going as the Sox head to Kansas City. Bucky's never faced the Royals and he's 0-4 with a 7.97 ERA in 7 road starts this year... those numbers are just plain scary, but if you try real hard you can convince yourself that they mean he's "due" for a road win... seriously, keep trying...

He'll lock horns with KC's ace Gil Meche, who has pitched very well as of late. Meche will be going for his 4th straight victory and has allowed just 3 runs in his last 20.1 IPs (3 starts).

Last time out, Meche fanned 8 Athletics over 7 innings in a 5-2 victory. He's just 4-4 at home this year, but a closer look reveals that he has dominated at Kauffman Stadium lately:

Meche 3-0 and owns a 1.95 ERA in his last 32.2 innings at home, most recently blanking the Rays for 7 innings in a 4-2 win.

A sweep of the lowly A's has rejuvenated the Red Sox, but they're just 24-32 on the road this year. Meanwhile, the Royals have won 6 of their last 7, but are just 7-3 in their last 10 home games - 26-30 overall.

Who Watch: Billy Butler has been tearing it up since his recall from AAA and went 8-14 (.571) with a homer and 5 RBI in the weekend series against the ChiSox... SS/2B Mike Aviles has also been red-hot over the past 7 games: 17-30 (.566) 3 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 9 R, 6 RBI... Kevin Youkilis hit two homers on Saturday and was 7 for 15 (.466) over the weekend... David Ortiz is batting .450 (9-20) against Meche with 4 homers and 9 RBI...

Bottom Line: This match-up favors the Royals, but the Sox took all four games against KC back in May and are 15-5 against he Central this season... after tonight the Sox have the advantage with Beckett and Wake... taking at least 2 of 3 shouldn't be a problem.