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BALTIMORE -- Boston Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz is scheduled to throw in Wednesday’s intrasquad game, according to a baseball source, further evidence that Jon Lester and John Lackey will pitch the first two games of the American League division series that begins Friday.

Buchholz last pitched on Friday, meaning Wednesday’s intrasquad game would come with his normal four days’ rest. Game 3 of the AL division series is scheduled for a week from Monday, which would also keep Buchholz right on schedule.

Lackey, who originally was scheduled to pitch Sunday, last pitched last Tuesday night in Colorado, meaning he will have 10 days’ rest if he pitches Game 2 Saturday. The last time he pitched with extended rest came out of the All-Star break, when he had seven days’ rest. He lost to the Yankees, 5-2, giving up 10 hits and 4 runs in 6 1/3 innings, striking out seven and walking none. His fastball topped out at 96 miles an hour that game, the highest it has been all season. In his last start, he averaged 91 m.p.h., and topped out at 92.

Manager John Farrell has yet to announce the rotation.

BALTIMORE -- Rocky Mountain high or sittin' on the dock of the (Chesapeake) bay, it makes no difference these days to the Red Sox, who can do no worse than tie for the best record in the American League after their 12-3 demolition of the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.

"I think it speaks volumes for the team that we have, the way they've performed as a group throughout the course of this year," manager John Farrell said. "We've still got two more games to play and because we've put ourselves in one position, it doesn't change our approach coming back here tomorrow."

The Red Sox's record is now 97-63, which leaves the Oakland Athletics in a position of having to sweep their season-ending series in Seattle while hoping the Sox lose their last two in Baltimore to force a tie. Should that happen, the Athletics would claim the best overall record in the league, based on a convoluted set of tiebreakers. (The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record, but Boston and Oakland split their season series at three wins each; the A's would have the advantage in the second tiebreaker, best intradivision record -- the A's could finish 45-31 in the West, versus Boston's 44-32 mark in the East.)

In that case, the Red Sox would open their AL division series at home next Friday against the Detroit Tigers, winners of the AL Central, while Oakland would host the wild-card winner.

The Athletics beat the Mariners and their ace, Felix Hernandez, 8-2, on Friday night, to remain one game behind the Sox with two to go.

The preferable scenario for the Sox is that they would get the wild-card winner -- the Rays and Indians are tied, with the Rangers one game behind -- and also be the home team for the ALCS, should they advance that far.

So, for another day at least, the Sox remain in a state of limbo, which is still far preferable to the state of shock that the Orioles left them in two years ago this weekend, when they knocked Boston out of the playoffs altogether on the last day of the regular season. The Orioles, who were eliminated from wild-card consideration earlier this week, could still play a limited spoiler role this weekend, but the Red Sox weren't about to give them that satisfaction Friday night.

The late-comers were still filing in when the Red Sox jumped on Orioles starter Ryan Feldman for five runs on five hits and a walk in the first inning, the big blow a three-run home run by Daniel Nava. By the third, when the Sox opened an 8-0 lead, every player in Boston's starting lineup except for Jacoby Ellsbury had at least one hit.

The Red Sox reached double figures in both runs and hits (16) at sea level in their first game since doing the same at altitude in Denver (15 runs on 16 hits Wednesday night). Jonny Gomes had four hits and a walk, hitting a first-pitch home run to lead off the ninth for Boston's final run.

"I just tell you, it echoes the comments and thoughts and conversations going on in the clubhouse here," Farrell said. "These guys are in a pretty good place. They're not looking to back off. They continue not to give away at-bats in the course of a night. Tonight was another example of that."

David Ortiz, who earlier this week reached 100 RBIs for the seventh time in his career, made it seven times to the 30-homer level, too, when he hit an opposite-field three-run home run off Orioles rookie Mike Belfiore, Ortiz the first batter the right-hander faced in his major league debut. Welcome to the big leagues, kid.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia thought he had a three-run home run, too, in the third until umpires reversed their call upon video review and ruled a ground-rule double. The reversal actually earned Saltalamacchia a line in the Sox record book, as the double was his 40th of the season, a club record for catchers.

It won't show up in anybody's record book, but it's still impressive: Closer Koji Uehara struck out the first batter he faced, Chris Snyder, in the ninth, for his 100th strikeout of the season, in just 73 1/3 innings. He is the eighth Sox reliever to strike out 100 batters, the first to do so in fewer than 100 innings.

The Sox, now 33-13 in games decided by five runs or more, made it an easy night for Clay Buchholz, who went seven innings and threw 113 pitches to run his record to 12-1. He did not walk a batter, struck out four and gave up seven hits, including home runs to Adam Jones, a two-run shot in the third, and Chris Davis, a bases-empty homer, his major league-best 53rd home run of the season.

Ellsbury went hitless in four trips in his second game back from his foot injury, giving way to Jackie Bradley Jr. in the seventh. Mike Napoli, who hadn't played since last Friday while resting his foot (plantar fasciitis), doubled and scored in his first plate appearance and also walked twice and whiffed twice.

Shane Victorino (thumb) sat this one out, though manager John Farrell said Victorino wanted to play and would be back in the lineup Saturday.

BALTIMORE -- There were a few miles an hour missing on Clay Buchholz's fastball Friday night, but there were extenuating circumstances.

"I was sleeping all day yesterday," Buchholz said.

He assured one and all that's not part of his customary routine. Usually, he at least plays catch the day before, but the Red Sox flew all night from Denver on Wednesday, which meant falling into bed around 7 a.m. Thursday, and the Orioles had a home game Thursday night, leaving Buchholz little recourse but to adjust.

"My body felt a little lethargic," he said. "I felt it when I woke up this morning that it might be a grinding day today."

But even if his fastball registered just 88 on the radar guns Friday night, he had a couple of things work in his favor in a 12-3 win over the Orioles. One was the Sox offense: The Sox gave him five runs even before he went to the mound, and increased the lead to 8-0 by the third.

"I'm just glad the team could score all those runs," he said. "It didn't put a whole lot of stress on the outing."

The second was that even without his best stuff, he went seven innings, threw 113 pitches, did not walk a batter and allowed just three runs, all coming on home runs: a two-run home run by Adam Jones in the third and a solo shot by Chris Davis in the sixth. That matched the number of home runs Buchholz had allowed in 101 1/3 innings entering the game, which might raise some eyebrows, although Jones (33) and Davis (53) have 86 home runs between them.

So does this mean the Buchholz, who has now made four starts since spending 94 days on the disabled list is not the same guy who was undefeated in nine decisions before he went down with shoulder bursitis?

"He set a pretty high standard for himself this year," manager John Farrell said. "Games when he goes out and gives up three or four runs, people start to wonder, 'Is he OK?' He's fine, and we've been able to get those four starts, build pitch count and put him in a good position to go forward."

Buchholz said he thought in his last start his velocity was similar to what it had been earlier in the season. Obviously, that wasn't the case Friday, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"He pitched with what he felt he had," Farrell said. "He's very routine-oriented. He felt fatigue, a little sluggish."

That he resorted to other weapons, Farrell said, "was a sign of maturity more than anything. There's not anything physically restricting him. He's answered the physical question for sure. On a night where he was not as sharp, he still kept them in check."

Buchholz, now 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA, concurred.

"I feel good," he said. "It's all about command, control, location of each pitch. I was going good before I got hurt, but I've said all along I'm not asking to get back to that point, but somewhere close. The last four starts, I got better at a different facet of my game with each start. I'm starting to have command of all my pitches. Slowly but surely I got there."

BOSTON -- One night later, the clubhouse scrubbed clean of a champion's spills, the harvest moon obscured by clouds, and the bats muffled by Mark Buehrle, the Boston Red Sox did something Saturday night that did not happen during their run-up to a division title.

They sent Clay Buchholz home with a loss.

The Red Sox right-hander, who had won all 11 of his previous decisions in 2013, including the two starts he had made since coming off the disabled list, was the losing pitcher in Saturday night's 4-2 defeat against the Toronto Blue Jays before a crowd of 37,569 in Fenway Park. The loss reduced Boston's advantage over Oakland for the best overall record in the league -- and home-field advantage in the American League Championship Series -- to 1½ games. The Red Sox have six games left, the Oakland Athletics seven.

The easy thing would be to blame a possible hangover effect caused by a long night of celebrating, which indeed took place on the basement level of Game On, the watering hole hard by the Green Monster. But that does a disservice to Buehrle, the Blue Jays lefty who held the Sox to five hits in six innings while going over the 200-inning mark for the 13th straight season, the longest active streak in the majors.

Granted, Buehrle was facing a Sox lineup missing a few of the usual suspects. Dustin Pedroia was given a night off, only the second time in 156 games he hasn't started at second base. John McDonald, a native of Connecticut and a resident of Scituate, Mass., started in his place. Will Middlebrooks, meanwhile, made his first career start at first base, Mike Napoli given a breather, while backup catcher David Ross started in place of Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

But while the Sox could mount little offense Saturday, they still played with a sense of some urgency, knowing that Oakland had already won and was closing in on them for the best overall record in the league.

Ross threw out all three Blue Jays baserunners who attempted to steal against him, one throw stronger than the one preceding it.

McDonald, playing in short right field as part of a defensive shift, made a terrific backhanded grab of Adam Lind's one-hop smash, spun and threw out Lind in the second. An inning later, shortstop Stephen Drew made an all-out dive to spear J.P. Arencibia's ground ball up the middle, and threw out the Jays' catcher. Drew also had two hits, scoring Boston's first run of the night in the sixth, and hit two other balls to the track that were caught.

The Sox scored their second run without the benefit of a hit in the seventh against Buehrle's successor, Dustin McGowan, when Xander Bogaerts reached on a two-base error by third baseman Brett Lawrie, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on Ross's grounder to short.

Still, that wasn't enough for the Sox to overcome the three-spot the Jays hung on Buchholz with two out in the fourth. That rally was aided and abetted by some sloppy defense, including the pitcher's wild pickoff attempt, his second in two starts, a double pump by Bogaerts on Lawrie's infield hit, and Shane Victorino's inability to haul in Lind's RBI double.

The inning began with a single by Jose Reyes, the first hit allowed by Buchholz after going nine-up, nine-down, but Ross nailed him stealing, at least in the eyes of second-base umpire Tony Randazzo. Munenori Kawasaki tapped out to second, and Buchholz was headed to the dugout when Lawrie rolled to third. But Lawrie beat Bogaerts' throw to first, and Adam Lind brought him home when he doubled off the glove of Victorino in center.

Moises Sierra followed with a base hit to left, and Rajai Davis flared a single to left that scored Lind and sent Sierra to third. Buchholz's pickoff attempt then missed connections with Middlebrooks, Sierra scoring.

"I just held onto it too long," Buchholz said of his pickoff attempt. "I was basically just trying to set up a way for Rossy to throw him out. It was just a show move and I just held on to the ball a little bit too long."

That was Buchholz's only rough inning, as he went six innings and threw 106 pitches, which should erase any doubts about his ability to pitch deep into a game in October, assuming he feels fine Sunday.

"I thought he was more crisp than his last time out against New York," manager John Farrell said. "A little better arm strength, a little more consistent power to his fastball. I thought Clay was pretty sharp and pretty crisp for the time he was on the mound.

"He was fighting to go back out in the seventh, but given the progression we were on, that was a comfortable number of pitches thrown tonight. But he feels good physically, he felt like he could have continued on tonight. So as far as Clay is concerned, the stuff that he had, the endurance he showed, a positive night for him."

Drake Britton threw a scoreless seventh, Ryan Dempster came out of the pen for the first time for the Sox and worked a scoreless eighth, but Matt Thornton gave up an RBI single to J.P. Arencibia, who was batting .142 since the break and snapped an 0 for 27 slump with his drive off the wall. Thornton was lifted two batters later after walking Reyes, and he has now put baserunners on in nine of his past 11 appearances, which won't further his candidacy for a postseason roster spot.

Not surprisingly, Pedroia did not remain idle the entire game. He pinch-hit for the first time since 2011 with two out and nobody on in the seventh but struck out, then finished the game at second base.

Despite taking the loss, Buchholz saw the positive, too.

"It's getting up over 100 pitches again and stuff not really losing anything throughout the game," he said. "That's what it's all about, to go out there and giving your team a chance to win. If we could have got out of that one inning with minimum damage, we could have ended up winning the game, but I let it snowball on me a little bit."

BOSTON -- An unpleasant flashback ... or was it?

During John Farrell's pregame media session, which is conducted in a room just above the Sox clubhouse, David Ortiz opened the door and barged into the session.

"The scorekeeper here is full of [expletive]," Ortiz said.

Before jaws could drop too far, Ortiz followed up.

"Just [messing] with you," he said.

Ortiz, you may recall, once interrupted a similar session of Terry Francona's to complain about an RBI denied him by a scorer's decision in 2011.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Globe reporter Pete Abraham asked Farrell, with 10 being most worried, how concerned was Farrell that Ortiz was on the level?

"A '1,'" Farrell said.

A few other tidbits from Farrell's session:

* Shane Victorino, who was lifted for pinch-hitter Jackie Bradley Jr. on Wednesday night, is being given the night off Thursday to rest his jammed right thumb.

* No baseball activity yet for Jacoby Ellsbury, but no surprise there.

* Rotation for the weekend series against the Blue Jays: Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront. Jake Peavy will start Tuesday. Farrell said Wednesday's starter is to be determined.

* Farrell said "we'll see" when asked if Koji Uehara, who has pitched in each of the last two games, could pitch Thursday night. Farrell noted that the Sox have used Uehara only once this season in three straight games.

That was June 26-28, when Uehara pitched a scoreless inning apiece against the Rockies, then back-to-back games against the Jays, registering saves in all three games and striking out two in each game. He threw a total of 44 pitches in the three games. He has thrown a dozen pitches in each of the last two nights against the Orioles.

* Farrell said that it's possible he would hit for Stephen Drew in the postseason against left-handers. He'll have that discussion beforehand with Drew, Farrell said, if he elects to go in that direction. Farrell allowed Drew to face lefty T.J. McFarland in the 11th inning Wednesday and he hit into an inning-ending double play. He's batting .183 against lefties, and after hitting .304 overall in August, he's cooled off this month (.226, 12 for 53).

BOSTON -- After days of doing his best to thwart questioning that involves the playoffs, Red Sox manager John Farrell is beginning to open up. Just a bit.

Farrell mapped out a large portion of his upcoming rotation and revealed the trio in the final series of the season at Baltimore, which would end five days before a possible Division Series opener at Fenway Park on Oct. 4.

Felix Doubront, who threw a simulated game Tuesday, will return to the Red Sox rotation Saturday against Toronto, Farrell said, slotting between Jon Lester on Friday and Clay Buchholz on Sunday. The club then visits Colorado for two games, which will feature Ryan Dempster and Jake Peavy on the mound, and then ends the regular season with three games at Camden Yards.

John Lackey, Lester and Buchholz each will be rested and ready to go in that season-ending series, potentially in that order. However, there are also two days off in the mix, giving Farrell plenty of wiggle room as he maps out the order for the Orioles series with an eye toward the first round of the playoffs. Who starts Game 1 is the question on everyone’s mind, but the Sox skipper stopped short of giving any answers beyond his Baltimore plans.

And even those remain up in the air.

“As the rotation kind of plays out over the next three series prior to Baltimore, those three guys are going to be rested and available to pitch in that series,” Farrell said Tuesday afternoon at Fenway Park. “We haven’t mapped it out who’s going to start Saturday or Sunday there. We also have to balance two off-days next week and then the potential for those four days off [before the playoffs start] as well, and not have a guy get too far away from a start.

“I mention those three guys because they’re all going to be eligible and rested going into Baltimore. What rotation they fall under, that’s yet to be determined.”

If Buchholz, who improved to 11-0 on Sunday night against the New York Yankees, is Farrell’s pick for a Game 1 start, he could conveniently stay in order and pitch Buchholz in the season finale and then again five days later in the Division Series opener. If Lester is the choice, it is an easy swap for Farrell, who might be inclined to give Buchholz more time between starts and make him the Game 2 choice.

Either way, with the Sox on the cusp of clinching the American League East and possessing a 3 ½-game advantage for the best overall record in the AL, it is obvious that the wheels are beginning to turn in the direction of a decision, even if Farrell is doing his best to put up roadblocks.

“We haven’t even looked at it that close. We don’t know who we’re playing so it can’t be matchups at this point,” he said when asked if reward or matchups is the bigger factor in deciding a Game 1 starter. “We’re going on those three guys rested enough to pitch in Baltimore and we’ll be sure that we get everybody to the mound prior to the end of that weekend to make sure that we get the most recent action leading into what might be following that. We’ll delve into that more once that gets closer.”

Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell shed a little light on who will get the start in Game 1 of the ALDS on Monday night, telling WEEI’s Road to October show that it’ll probably be either John Lackey, Jon Lester or Clay Buchholz.

He said those are the three pitchers lined up to start in Baltimore in the final series of the season from Sept. 27-29. Because of the one-game wild card playoff game, the Sox -- provided they win the AL East (their magic number is four) -- have an opportunity to line their pitchers up any way they want for the playoffs.

“This year is so different,” Farrell told WEEI. “We’ve got 4 days off between the end of the season and the possible first game. There’s not the play-in game, there’s the ability to arrange things. In the past, we never had that option. You went from the last day of the season, one day off, and your next series started. So your rotation was kind of pared down to maybe one or two options, it was pretty clear. This time around, we have the possibility of more options.

“Just looking at the way our rotation plays out the remaining 11 games, when we go to Baltimore it’s going to be Lackey, Lester and Buchholz. That’s the way it’s falling right now. Those are the three guys who are going to start that series. That’s kind of where we are, and I think probably one of those three will end up pitching Game 1, provided that we get there.”

Which one would you choose for Game 1? We make the case for each below:

* Jon Lester: In his past eight starts, Lester has been the dominant ace the Red Sox were hoping for all season long. He is 4-2 with a 1.86 ERA since early August, this after a 14-start stretch from May-July in which he was 4-6 with a 5.81 ERA.

* Clay Buchholz: After missing almost three months, Buchholz has actually been better since his return that he was over his first 10 starts of the season (9-0 with a 1.71 ERA). Though he walked four and surrendered an unearned run in his last outing, Buchholz has gone 11 innings without surrendering an earned run in two September starts.

* Jon Lackey: Though he hasn’t gotten the run support, Lackey has been the most consistent Red Sox starter this season. He had a 3.22 ERA before a bad outing in the Bronx (7 runs in 5 2/3 innings) earlier this month.

BOSTON -- The staged farewell was for Mariano Rivera, although the way the Red Sox played it, Rivera must have thought he’d walked into a Friars Club roast. The Sox forced him via video to relive his worst Fenway Park moment -- the Dave Roberts steal and blown save in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS -- before breaking out the gifts and salutations. With his typical grace, Rivera smiled through all of it.

But it was the unscripted goodbye Sunday night that should resonate most for Red Sox fans. With a 9-2 win, the Sox officially eliminated the Yankees from the AL East race. A mere formality at this point, to be sure, as the Yankees are in fourth place in the division, 12½ games behind the Sox and closer to last place (10½ games) than first.

Nonetheless, Sept. 15 is the earliest the Yankees have been officially eliminated since 1992, when Rivera was a 22-year-old starting pitcher for Class A Fort Lauderdale, where his manager was Brian Butterfield, Boston’s third-base coach, and a teammate was Carl Everett, the ex-Sox outfielder whose ejection by plate umpire Ron Kulpa was far more memorable than when Mike Napoli was tossed by Kulpa Sunday night.

Napoli’s two-run home run onto the center-field camera well in the first inning, when the Sox took a 3-1 lead and were never challenged, was his seventh home run against the Yankees this season, just one shy of the record for home runs against the Yankees by a Sox player (Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx having hit eight in 1936).

The Sox first baseman had two more chances when he is most dangerous -- with the bases loaded, when he came into the game batting .524 (11-for-21) with three grand slams and 31 RBIs -- but he went down swinging in the fifth and was called out on strikes by Kulpa in the sixth.

Napoli, not enchanted with the call, spiked his helmet, which was sufficient provocation for the plate umpire to give Napoli the rest of the night off. Napoli has played 859 big league games since making his debut in 2006. This was his first ejection, his behavior evidently having been found more acceptable back in his clean-shaven days.

The strikeout also was of some consequence, although it’s almost unseemly to mention it when a player is swinging the bat the way Napoli has of late: .438 (14-for-32), five home runs, four doubles, 13 RBIs in his last nine games. But when Kulpa rung him up in the sixth, Napoli entered the Sox record book as the player with the most K’s in a season, that whiff giving him 178, one more than Mark Bellhorn, the man of notable sideburns on the ’04 World Series winners. (Somewhere Bellhorn was channeling Mike Torrez post-Buckner and thinking, “I’m off the hook.’’)

The Sox will gladly take the whiffs as trade-off for the production: Napoli’s seven home runs and 20 RBIs in 63 plate appearances against the Yanks this season, for example, compared to the five home runs and 21 RBIs his predecessor at first base, Adrian Gonzalez, amassed in 133 plate appearances against New York over two seasons. And there is the track record in October to consider: In 17 postseason games with the Rangers beginning in 2011, Napoli hit .328 with three home runs and 15 RBIs.

And by the time Napoli registered K No. 178 (which he did not stick around to discuss), the Sox were safely ahead 7-1, Clay Buchholz holding the Yankees to just two hits over six innings in his second tuneup for October since returning from the disabled list after a 94-day absence.

Buchholz, who was charged with an unearned run in the first after his wild pickoff attempt allowed Curtis Granderson to flee from first to third and subsequently score on a ground ball by Alex Rodriguez, was not particularly sharp, especially with his hard stuff. He walked four, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. But the Sox turned two double plays behind him (three in all) and he remained unbeaten with an 11-0 record and 1.51 ERA, the kind of numbers that tend to play well in October.

“You remember where you’ve been,’’ Buchholz said. “I’ve been probably just about to the pinnacle, the best feeling you can get from this game, and I’ve been pretty low in it too. My mindset is to stay on an even keel. Stuff happens, you’ve got five days, and go about your business. I try not to get too high, too low. Just do your job.’’

The Sox took 13 of 19 games from the Yankees this season, their most wins against their archrivals since they won 14 in 1973, the year the DH was introduced. They beat the Yankees by four or more runs seven times, while scoring eight or more runs eight times.

“Our confidence continues to grow,’’ Sox manager John Farrell said after the Sox won for the fifth time in six games and 10th time in the last 12 to move 33 games over .500 (92-59) for the first time this season. “That’s not to take anything for granted or guys thinking that someone is not going to either pitch a good game against us or put together a good game against us. It’s just a matter that this group believes in itself and continues to show it between the lines.

“The beauty of this team is that it’s a collective group. It’s not about individual accolades or awards or acknowledgments, it’s about what we hope to continue to work toward and achieve.”

And besides everything else Sunday night -- Buchholz’s pitching, Napoli’s homer and four doubles, two by Daniel Nava, who went 4-for-4 -- there also was a double steal as catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was credited with a steal of home when the Yankees threw down to second in the fourth inning.

“Speed kills,’’ Buchholz said. “That’s what they were saying in the dugout.’’

The last time Saltalamacchia stole home? “Probably T-ball,’’ he said. “It’s definitely something I never thought would happen.’’

Saltalamacchia then ticked off the names of the players he knows have stolen home. “There’s [Jacoby] Ellsbury, Jackie Robinson and me,’’ he said.

How much difference does a year make? The regular season ended last year in Yankee Stadium with the Sox swept three straight by the Yankees by a cumulative score of 28-7, the final indignity a 14-2 defeat.

This season? With the Rays losing again Sunday, the magic number to win the division is down to four. The Sox, who have 11 games left, could clinch as early as Wednesday.

“It’s hard to sweep any team,’’ Buchholz said, “but finishing it off against the Yankees, it’s not an easy feat. I think everybody did their job.”

The broken-down Yankees, meanwhile, remain three games behind in the wild-card race and head to Toronto. The last Yankee to walk off the field Sunday night was Rivera, trailed by a TV camera, waving to the clusters of fans that waited to bid one last farewell. Before he left, he wrote a message on the bullpen wall, the only time all weekend he used his magnificent right arm. Rivera did not pitch once here in three games, and chances grow slimmer that he will ever pitch again in October.

BOSTON -- A few notes prior to Sunday night’s farewell to Mariano Rivera:

* The Red Sox are urging fans to be in their seats by 7:30 for the pregame ceremony honoring the Yankees' closer.

* Sox manager John Farrell, with all due respect, hopes he has seen the last of Rivera on the mound.

“Hopefully we don’t have to face Rivera -- that means it’s not a save opportunity for the Yankees,’’ Farrell said. “But I think it’s deserved, the tribute that’ll be paid to him here before the game, if you’re a fan of the game. Just a remarkable career and he has set the standard for all those that occupy the closer’s role.’’

* Farrell’s expectations of Clay Buchholz, making his second start since coming off the DL: “There’s not a hard, fast number of pitches to look at, but I will say if he walks out to start the sixth inning, that would be another step in the right direction.”

* Farrell, on the chances of an uptick in velocity from Buchholz’s last start: “It might be. The one thing that was encouraging, there were a couple of pitches in Tampa where he needed to get a strikeout and he reached back to get a little extra velocity. Not that velocity is the end-all, be-all, but it’s a sign that arm strength is building. I would expect that to hopefully tick up a little bit tonight but I think even before the injury, he would pitch very comfortably in that low 90s, 92-93 range. We saw a lot of that the other night in Tampa.”

* Shane Victorino was given a night off, as the Sox manage his hamstring and back issues. Will Middlebrooks is out of the lineup, Farrell said, with flu-like symptoms. Daniel Nava and Mike Carp are the corner outfielders, Nava in right, Carp in left, while Xander Bogaerts will play third.

* Even before taking the field, the Sox's magic number was reduced to five, as the Rays blew a lead to the Twins and lost. The Rangers also lost, their sixth in a row, meaning Terry Francona’s Indians had a chance to draw within a half-game of a wild-card spot with a win over the White Sox in a game delayed by rain. (UPDATE: The Indians delivered with a 7-1 victory.)

BOSTON -- Fresh off a thrilling 8-4 win thanks in part to a grand slam by Jarrod Saltalamacchia, it’s a quick turnaround for the Boston Red Sox as they host the New York Yankees in a matinee game today at Fenway Park.

It’s an absolutely beautiful day at the ballpark this morning and besides the music blaring in the Sox’s clubhouse, it’s relatively quiet, which is odd for a Red Sox-Yankees series in September. Boston enters today’s game atop the AL East with an 8 ½ game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays, and 10 ½ over the Yankees.

While Jon Lester starts for the Red Sox today, fellow starter Clay Buchholz gets the nod in the series and season finale Sunday night against New York. It will be his second start since returning from the DL after missing three months with a neck strain. The right-hander worked five scoreless innings last Tuesday against the Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla., and he’s still progressing and preparing for the postseason.

Red Sox manager John Farrell indicated Saturday morning that Buchholz is still limited by a pitch count.

“We’ve got a range. It would be great if he can go out and continue what he did down in Tampa,” Farrell said. “But, as I mentioned yesterday, the stress of the pitches from the start to the end of his night, that’ll have as much bearing as the number of pitches thrown.”

Buchholz reached 74 pitches against the Rays and that number could increase against the Yankees. Despite the hiatus due to injury, Buchholz is 10-0 with a 1.61 ERA this season. Against the Yankees, he’s 2-0 with a 0.75 in two starts this season.

* Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury began physical activities Friday as he attempts to return from a fracture in his right foot. He suffered the injury on Sept. 5 and was given clearance to remove the walking boot Friday to begin his comeback attempt. The hope is the Sox’s leadoff hitter will be able to return in time for the postseason. Farrell said Ellsbury’s first day of physical activities went well. “As anticipated,” he said. “He’s going through more exercises here today which is all part of his rehab plan at the time of the exam. No baseball activities, this is just all physical activities.”

* Red Sox pitcher Felix Doubront is on track to start a game against the Toronto Blue Jays next weekend. The left-hander will work side session Sunday and he’s scheduled to throw a simulated game on Tuesday. Because the Red Sox currently have six healthy starters, Doubront was skipped his last time around as Farrell is balancing rest and trying to figure out how the rotation and bullpen will look for the postseason.

“We felt like this was the need just from the physical standpoint,” Farrell said. “There wasn’t anything glaring inside the last five or six starts that he made, it was just the lack of consistency and to me that looked like fatigue.”

That fatigue Farrell speaks of could be a result of the career-high 161 innings in 29 starts Doubront made last season. Plus, he wasn’t completely ready for spring training and his success rate during the season has fluctuated.

“He went through different phases this year where he started a little bit behind in spring training, caught up, got on a very good run for an extended period of time and then things started to catch up to him again,” Farrell said. “That’s just our response to the waves that he’s gone through and we have to address it accordingly.”

NEW YORK -- Some quick hits prior to kickoff in Buffalo (and first pitch in Yankee Stadium).

* Clay Buchholz has been penciled in for a start against the Rays in Tropicana Field Tuesday, when the Sox open a three-game series against Tampa Bay, manager John Farrell said. Buchholz threw a bullpen here Sunday after making three rehab starts.

“Seventy-five to 80 pitches is probably a reasonable number to throw,’’ Farrell said. “We know there will be an increase in intensity, as we look for him to make that first step back.’’

If Buchholz does indeed start Tuesday night in the Trop, it will be 94 days since he made his last start, June 8 against the Angels, in which he was a 7-2 winner and ran his record to 9-0, his ERA at a major-league best 1.71.

“Our goal for the remainder of the month would be not only to stretch him out, but to see if there’s a certain dependability we get from him. We really can’t expect him to come back and pitch to the form that led him to be a 1.7 ERA and the record that he has. But starting on Tuesday, if that’s the day he will begin with, we’re hopeful we get a guy that’s close to what he was prior to the injury and certainly will be an additional lift to this rotation.’’

Farrell said he expects to announce who is being dropped from the rotation after Sunday’s game. He offered a hint at his thinking when he said a “priority is who’s the most effective starter right now.’’

If that is the determinant, left-hander Felix Doubront may be bound for the pen, at least temporarily. Doubront has a 6.58 ERA over his last five starts, and has not made it out of the fourth inning in the last two, going just 3 2/3 innings in Boston’s 12-8 win over the Yankees Friday night, walking 6 while giving up 6 runs.

* Rookie Allen Webster was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket to add bullpen depth. In Boston’s last six games, the Sox have used five or more pitchers five times, including in each of the first three games of the Yankees series.

* Neither Mike Napoli nor Shane Victorino were in Sunday’s Sox starting lineup. The days off were planned, Farrell said; with Monday’s off-day, that will give both players two days. Mike Carp was at first base, and the outfield had Jackie Bradley Jr. in center, flanked by Daniel Nava in right and Jonny Gomes in left.

* Jarrod Saltalamacchia was back behind the plate, after missing the last four games with a sore back.

* Jacoby Ellsbury was scheduled to be examined Sunday in Denver by Dr. Tom Clanton at the Steadman Clinic to determine the severity of the injury to his right foot. Farrell said he hoped to have more information after the game.

NEW YORK -- Some quick hits from Yankee Stadium prior to the second game of this four-game set between the Red Sox and Yankees:

-- Jacoby Ellsbury, who singled and stole second base in advance of Shane Victorino’s game-winning hit in the 10th inning Thursday night, was experiencing soreness in the right foot he injured several days ago when he fouled a ball off it, manager John Farrell said. Ellsbury underwent treatment and was staying off his feet, Farrell said. No additional X-rays were taken, but Ellsbury sat Friday night, with Shane Victorino playing center field.

-- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who took early hitting Friday and participated in other drills, is sufficiently recovered from his lower back pain to resume playing soon, Farrell said. "Tomorrow is a real possibility," he said.

-- The day after Clay Buchholz made his third and last rehab assignment, Farrell said he has not yet changed the starting rotation to include his undefeated ace. "Clay went to Boston, will join us tomorrow and throw a bullpen here Sunday," Farrell said. "We’re making sure we go through every step physically before making any adjustments."

Farrell said that Buchholz threw with power consistent with the way he was throwing earlier in the season before being shut down with shoulder bursitis. "I spoke to him live this afternoon and he feels good physically," Farrell said. "He had increased command of all of his pitches, and is in a pretty good place from a mental standpoint in addition to being physically sound."

Farrell has suggested that Buchholz could rejoin the rotation Tuesday in Tropicana Field against the Tampa Bay Rays, but has held off on making that a definite. Ryan Dempster, whose turn would fall on Tuesday, said he is preparing to make that start and has yet to be told otherwise.

-- Dempster took the "6" subway train and transferred to the "4" for the trip into Yankee Stadium on Friday afternoon. A crew from MLB Productions tagged along. Dempster said he often rides the subway to the ballpark in New York -- he took the "7" train to Flushing when he was with the Marlins and Cubs and had to play the Mets -- and said he has taken the BART from San Francisco to Oakland on occasion. As a Cub, he walked to Wrigley Field from the Lakeview neighborhood in which he lived, and also walks to Fenway.

-- The "Yes" Network, which televises Yankees games, had a great shot of David Ross, Mike Carp and other Sox players howling in laughter when Drew dug up a divot and made a sprawling catch of a foul popup by Curtis Granderson in the fourth inning. What did Ross say to Drew? "Nice route, Magellan," the catcher said.

So, Ross had paid attention in his high school history class? "I crushed high school history," he said.

-- Pedro Martinez was a pregame visitor to the Sox clubhouse, drawing a laugh when he spotted Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy and yelled, "Shaughnessy, you evil maniac." Martinez came in with a shopping bag for David Ortiz and shook hands with everyone in sight, sharing hugs with many of the call-ups he had seen in Pawtucket.

It looks like the Red Sox rotation can expect to get another boost in the near future.

Clay Buchholz made his third and presumably final rehab start Thursday night, pitching for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox in a playoff game at the Rochester Red Wings, and he appears to be in line to make his next start for Boston.

After pitching three scoreless frames to begin the game, Buchholz gave up two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, exiting with two outs and a 5-2 lead. He threw 71 pitches (52 strikes) in all over 3 2/3 innings, striking out five, walking two and allowing four hits and the two runs.

The PawSox went on to win 7-2, evening their best-of-five playoff series at one game apiece. The action shifts from Frontier Field to McCoy Stadium for Game 3, but Buchholz's contributions to the PawSox's playoff cause have likely come to an end.

The Red Sox have not yet made his return to Boston official, but after Thursday's outing he indicated to reporters in Rochester that he feels ready to rejoin his big league teammates for their playoff push. They are expected to activate Buchholz in time to start Tuesday’s game in Tampa against the Rays.

BOSTON -- Making allowances because a player’s wife was having a baby was not always standard operating procedure in baseball. Terry Francona used to tell the story of when he was playing for the Reds and his first-born, Nick, was about to arrive. Sure, Pete Rose, his manager at the time, told him, you can go home to be with your wife. Just don’t bother to come back.

The Red Sox issued no such ultimatum to pitcher Clay Buchholz, who initially was scheduled to make a third rehab appearance on Wednesday. He was present with his wife, Lindsey, when she gave birth Wednesday to the couple’s second child, a sister for daughter Colbi.

Not that Buchholz was granted extended paternity leave. He was scheduled to fly to Rochester, N.Y., to pitch Thursday for Pawtucket in the International League playoffs. He was then slated to return to Boston for at least a day before joining the Sox in New York this weekend.

This will be his third rehab appearance, and if all goes well, Buchholz is expected to rejoin the Red Sox and is in line to start Tuesday’s series opener in Tropicana Field against the Tampa Bay Rays.

On Wednesday afternoon, Farrell was not prepared to share his plans for Buchholz next week.

“Anything regarding the rotation," Farrell said, "we’ll probably hold off on any type of announcement until he gets through tomorrow."

BOSTON -- Red Sox center fielder and leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury is not in the lineup Tuesday night against the Detroit Tigers due to a sore left hand.

It’s something that has been bothering him for a couple of days, so Red Sox manager John Farrell thought it best to give Ellsbury the night off against Tigers ace Max Scherzer. Ellsbury actually has decent career numbers against the right-hander, posting a .556 average (5-for-9) with one home run and five RBIs.

Farrell believes Ellsbury will be back in the lineup Wednesday.

“He felt like today was the day he needed to try to get ahead of it,” Farrell said.

Farrell said it’s the type of injury Ellsbury will deal with for the remainder of the season.

“We fully expect it’ll be something he’ll manage the rest of the way,” the manager said. “We’re hopeful and expect him to play [Wednesday] but I don’t think it’s going to be gone overnight.”

Ellsbury was removed from Sunday’s game after the eighth inning due to the discomfort in his hand. Farrell explained Ellsbury was jammed a few times during the series finale against the Chicago White Sox.

Ellsbury was back in the lineup Monday against the Tigers, but went 0-for-3 with a walk.

“Everyday players, this time of the year, are going to be dealing with certain things and his happens to be in his left hand,” Farrell said.

Ellsbury is batting .297 with 7 homers and 50 RBIs this season. He's leading the majors with 51 stolen bases.

* Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia also is out of the lineup and could miss two to three more days due to soreness in his lower back, according to Farrell. Backup catcher David Ross will serve as Jon Lester’s batterymate tonight. Saltalamacchia’s back has been bothering him for the last several days and became increasingly worse.

“Throughout the course of [Monday’s] game, it became a little more apparent he needed a little bit of a breather,” Farrell said.

Saltalamacchia has played 108 games this season and he’s on pace to set a career high in games played. He played 121 games last season.

He’s batting .263 with 11 homers and 52 RBIs this season.

The back discomfort has hampered his recent at-bats, Farrell said.

"A little bit,” the manager said. “And the transfers on some of his throws.”

* Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz will make his third and final minor league rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday in Rochester, N.Y. He was originally scheduled to start Wednesday, but he and his wife are expecting the birth of the couple’s second child, so the pitcher’s start was pushed back a day. Buchholz is scheduled to throw between 75 and 80 pitches, and if he continues to progress he’s expecting to return to Boston’s rotation on Sept. 10 against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.