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TORONTO -- Red Sox first baseman Mike Napoli hit the longest home run of his career Wednesday night, a 472-foot drive to dead center field, then followed that three innings later with another tape-measure job, 467 feet into the third deck, with two runners aboard.

But Napoli, the property of the Blue Jays for a grand total of four days in 2011, and the five home runs the Sox hit collectively Wednesday night were only a sideshow to the main event: another seven scoreless innings from Clay Buchholz, who became the major leagues’ first six-game winner and remained unbeaten in six starts after a 10-1 pummeling of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Buchholz gave up a one-out single in the third to Jays shortstop Munenori Kawasaki, who had fouled off two bunt attempts before lining a full-count curveball to center field. In the seventh, after a walk to Adam Lind, he gave up a one-out single to Melky Cabrera, who embarrassed himself and his manager, John Gibbons, by trying to stretch the hit into a double, down by eight runs. He was cut down easily by right-fielder Daniel Nava.

That was the extent of the Blue Jays offense, who advanced only one runner as far as second base all night against Buchholz, Lind taking third on Cabrera’s hit.

Buchholz set down 10 straight Jays after issuing a leadoff walk to Jose Bautista in the fourth. He struck out eight, walked three, and threw an efficient 101 pitches.

His ERA after six starts is 1.01. He has not allowed more than two earned runs yet in any start, and this was the third time in six starts he has held the opposition scoreless. In his last eight starts against the Blue Jays here, dating back to July 17, 2009, he has allowed two runs or fewer.

The last Sox pitcher to go 6-0 with a lower ERA after six starts was Roger Clemens, who was 6-0 with an 0.73 ERA in 1991.

Pick your poison: Put yourself in the shoes of a Toronto hitter -- say, Brett Lawrie -- and experience what it was like to face Buchholz Wednesday night. On Lawrie's first at-bat, Buchholz threw him back-to-back fastballs, came back with a changeup, then got Lawrie to roll over on a cutter for a groundout to second.

On Lawrie's second at-bat, in the third inning, Buchholz went cutter, 4-seamer, cutter, curve, 4-seamer, 2-seamer -- the last pitch Lawrie taking for a called third strike.

Lawrie came to bat for a third time in the sixth. Buchholz started him with back-to-back curveballs, followed that with a four-seamer, a two-seamer, a changeup and then another two-seamer, which Lawrie grounded to second.

Three entirely different pitch sequences, leaving Lawrie no idea what he might be seeing on a given count. Now, multiply that by nine, and you’ll understand what it was like to be a Blue Jay Wednesday night.

Keep the lid on: The Sox have had seven games in which they’ve hit two or more home runs in the 27 games they’ve played. Three of those games have come in the 16 games they’ve played at Fenway Park. Four of those games have come in the five they’ve played here under a closed roof, including three Tuesday night and five Wednesday. Stephen Drew hit his first of the year with a man on in the second, and Napoli and Daniel Nava went back-to-back in the fourth. For both Nava and Napoli, that was No. 5 this season.

All three of those home runs came off Jays starter Mark Buehrle, whose re-entry into the American League has been a horror show. Buehrle, who came to the Jays in the big trade with the Marlins, already has given up 9 home runs in 35 innings, and has a 6.75 ERA.

Napoli hit the first home run into the second deck in dead center field, then devalued Canadian currency even more when he crushed a 3-and-0 pitch from reliever Esmil Rogers into the third deck in left center, with two runners aboard, in the seventh.

Napoli -- who also flied to the track in center in the second inning, walked in the sixth and hit a ground-rule double in the ninth -- rebounded nicely from a 4-K game the night before.

The Sox have hit 31 home runs this season. Sixteen have come here, including the six they hit here on April 7. Their last home run of the night Wednesday came from Mike Carp, who pinch-hit for David Ortiz and homered into the right-field seats, giving him home runs in consecutive at-bats. Carp homered in his last at-bat Tuesday night.

Spreading the wealth: Every Sox player in the lineup reached base safely, with Jonny Gomes, who walked twice, the only Sox player without a hit. The only inning in which the Sox went down in order was the fifth.

TORONTO -- Good afternoon from Rogers Centre, where the sports section of Wednesday’s Toronto Globe and Mail devoted its first four pages to the hockey playoffs and its fifth page to the UEFA Champions League playoffs in soccer. Then it shared the news of the Blue Jays’ 9-7 win over the Red Sox on page 6. We all have our priorities, don’t we?

The Sox, who ended April with the best record in the majors (18-8), have lost back-to-back games only twice this season and on Wednesday night have unbeaten Clay Buchholz (5-0) bidding to make it six wins in six starts. There are few better places for him to do so than here, judging by the track record. Buchholz has a 1.67 ERA in nine starts in the Rogers Centre, the lowest ERA of any pitcher with at least 55 innings in this building.

Buchholz has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his past seven starts in Toronto, dating to July 17, 2009, and collectively the Jays are batting just .214 against him. Edwin Encarnacion, who hit two home runs for the Jays in their win Tuesday night, is just 1-for-15 against Buchholz, while catcher J.P. Arencibia is hitless in 11 at-bats and third baseman Brett Lawrie is 1-for-10.

How good has Buchholz been? Read Tony Lee’s rundown, but Buchholz is only the third Sox pitcher since the dead ball era (pre-1920) to hold opponents to two runs or fewer over at least seven innings in each of his first five starts of a season. The others are Roger Clemens in 1991 and Boo Ferriss in 1945; they both did it in their first seven. The last big leaguer to do so was Livan Hernandez for the Giants in 2002. Hernandez did not transform his great start into a great season; he wound up 12-16 with a 4.38 ERA, his 16 losses leading the National League.

Whoa, Papi: The other Sox player on a historic run these days is David Ortiz, who drove in four runs Tuesday night with his third home run and a three-run double, and has 15 RBIs in his first nine games. Ortiz is also batting .500 (18-for-36), which makes him just the third player to hit .500 with at least 15 RBIs in his first nine games. The other two are Hall of Famers: Dave Winfield (17-for-34, 16 RBIs in 1988 for the Yankees) and Willie Mays (17-for-34, 17 RBIs in 1964 for the Giants).

And Ortiz has feasted on the Jays’ starter, left-hander Mark Buehrle, batting .361 (22-for-61), with three home runs and 13 RBIs.

Pinch me: Don’t know how to check this, but there can’t be too many hitters who have yielded to pinch hitters under the same circumstances as Mike Carp. In Cleveland on April 17, Carp had two doubles and a triple in his first three plate appearances but was lifted against a lefty for a pinch hitter, Jonny Gomes, who struck out. Then Tuesday night, in his second plate appearance, Carp launched his first home run of the season, but when his turn came around again, a lefty was on the mound and Gomes pinch hit again. This time, Gomes hit a home run, his first.

Carp, who was basically the last player to make the team out of camp, has gotten off to a great start, batting .458 (11-for-24) with a home run and six RBIs. Among big leaguers with at least 25 plate appearances so far, Carp leads the majors in slugging percentage (.958) and OPS (1.458). But with Buehrle on the hill, he’ll start the night on the bench.

Call his shot? Dustin Pedroia is tearing it up of late, batting .462 (12-for-26) over his past seven games, but now has gone 160 at-bats since his last home run, the longest homerless streak on the club. Pedroia last went deep Sept. 11 off Hiroki Kuroda of the Yankees.

Step lightly: It goes into the books as a caught stealing, Jays pitcher Brandon Morrow catching Jacoby Ellsbury off second base with two on, two out and Mike Napoli at the plate, the Sox down a run in the fourth inning. Manager John Farrell did not let the moment pass without a comment.

“At the time, overaggressiveness on our part," Farrell said when asked about it. “We felt like we had Morrow coming to the end of the night. Unfortunately [Ellsbury] got picked off second. Not a real good heads-up play given the game situation.”

Clay Buchholz has the type of mild-mannered, soft-spoken personality that can, when things aren’t going well on the mound, come across as timidity or nervousness, even if that’s not the case. When all is well in his game, that same personality can seem to ooze with measured confidence.

After perhaps the best April in franchise history for a starting pitcher, that confidence is off the charts. And that’s what makes the 2013 version of Clay Buchholz so notable. The numbers are amazing, but the demeanor is one of a guy who not only has a mastery of what he is doing on the mound but has no fear of that next back strain or hamstring pull or of unleashing that one curveball that just won’t do the trick.

Buchholz has always possessed a varied arsenal, utilizing as many as six different pitches. This season, virtually all have been effective, and all have been released without any sense of apprehension. That certainty can make all the difference.

“When you get called up, usually you’re going off yourself. You don’t know the leagues. You’re going off what you do well, and this and that,” said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who has caught Buchholz 29 times since joining the team in 2010.

“But the more time you get, the more you know the league, you see how your stuff plays. Clay’s done a great job with not just [saying], ‘Hey this guy’s a really good breaking ball hitter so I’m not going to throw a breaking ball.’ He’ll still throw it. He’ll just make sure he knows that if he makes that pitch he’s gonna make it a good one. He’s done a great job.”

When Buchholz steps to the mound Wednesday in Toronto, where he happens to dominate, he will be aiming to become the first six-game winner in the majors. With a handful of zeroes his ERA will again flirt with sub-1.00 territory. Pitchers across baseball have been posting some pretty impressive numbers this year, but it is no small accomplishment for someone like Buchholz to have such precise command early on.

Buchholz had an 8.69 ERA at the end of April 2012 before posting a 5.60 mark in May, getting hot in June but then hitting the disabled list. In 2011, he was 1-3 with a 5.33 ERA entering May.

“Last couple of years I’ve been a slow starter, so it feels good to be out there and have a little bit of confidence early on, and that helps a lot,” he said after seven strong innings against Houston on Thursday. “Guys are playing well behind me. Things are going right.”

Things have gone right before for Buchholz, but they’ve also gone wrong. A lot of young pitching careers start out like that before a norm is established. Some guys struggle to find the right role, whether it be a starter or a reliever. Injuries early on are not uncommon. Many of those that hit the ground running can burn out by the time they are Buchholz’s age, 28. Buchholz’s ride has been as volatile as any. Throwing a no-hitter in his second career start, spending the bulk of the next year and some of the one after that in the minors, producing a 2010 breakout that saw him nearly win the ERA crown, and then back-to-back seasons in which injuries and ineffectiveness forced his ERA to soar more than a run each year. Then came this -- as smooth a beginning as the franchise has ever seen from a starting pitcher.

The pessimist might see that as just another stretch of the roller coaster. The demeanor, the confidence and the ability to adjust suggests that Buchholz has simply hit that stride.

Single runs allowed early in the win over the Astros forced one such adjustment, this time with Buchholz’s variety of fastball, as he chose to stick mostly with his four-seamer after issues with the sinker.

“Probably not,” he said when asked if he would’ve made that adjustment in years past. “That was one thing that I worked really hard on, was having both fastballs and being able to locate them and pitch off that. It’s a little different not having a two-seam to throw whenever I want. It was tough to get to that point at certain spots, but I was able to find a way to get through a couple of innings.”

The “John Farrell effect” was largely thought to be something that would impact Jon Lester more than anyone. While the lefty was off to an excellent start before back-to-back subpar outings, it is Buchholz who may author the biggest turnaround. Farrell, the pitching coaching in Boston as both hurlers came of age, has recognized the difference in Buchholz now compared to when he tutored him through 2010.

“In a word, more mature,” Farrell said. “And that shows up in a number of different ways. Inside the game, more importantly, where he’s able to slow the game down where maybe things in the past sped up a little bit. But because of that control of that emotional spike that every pitcher will experience, he still reads swings very accurately, and those are the things that allow him to make the next pitch selection to be most effective.
“It’s the maturity and he knowing more of himself as a pitcher, that’s really the biggest difference.”

A slightly deeper look within the numbers emphasizes that point. Buchholz was never a bad pitcher in tight situations, but he was known to focus a bit too much on runners and, at times, was knocked around while in the stretch. However, opponents are 2-for-30 (.067) with seven strikeouts and five GIDPs with a man on first this year. They are 6-for-58 (.103) against Buchholz with runners on. And the righty has held opposing hitters to a .165 (13-for-79) average with 24 strikeouts and no homers in medium- to high-leverage situations.

Again, a small sample size, but everything is trending well. As Buchholz said, things are going right.

Not that the position of one’s locker means everything, but every so often you can read a little into the way in which the Red Sox station their players in the clubhouse. Position players line one wall and pitchers and catchers the other, and within those settings are small idiosyncrasies.

Buchholz, for years, had a locker along the main pitching wall, somewhat behind a pillar and hard to find, betwixt Lester (and Jason Varitek) and lockers for the ever-shuffling relief corps. It was a very ordinary setting.

When the 2013 clubhouse was unveiled, Buchholz had moved to a prominent corner suite once held by Daisuke Matsuzaka and near Josh Beckett’s old stomping grounds, a spot tucked away and central at the same time. A spot where a veteran coming into his own can have his alone time, that he so richly deserves, while still being very present.

In front of the locker, the custom-made lounger with the inscription “Buck” on it speaks to someone who at least had the expectation he would be carrying a bigger load. Thus far, he has.

In the video above, Aaron Boone and Alex Cora discuss Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz's dominance, which has helped the Red Sox get off to a great start this season.

"He's been tremendous, and I think it's a matter of him being healthy," Boone says of Buchholz. "He had the back issues a year ago, and I think that really prevented him from really finishing his pitches, really getting out in front and getting the baseball down with his fastball, his breaking ball, his changeup. He elevated more pitches last year, they weren't as crisp, and that's why he got hit around.

"Now we're seeing the Clay Buchholz that's had all this promise throughout his career. It's starting to come to fruition. Him and Lester -- really anchoring this rotation."

Cora thinks that much of Buchholz's success stems from his effectiveness in pitching inside to lefties.

"He's throwing that four-seamer up and in, and then he's throwing that comebacker like Greg Maddux used to do, but at 93-94 [mph], a little bit harder than Maddux used to. When he does that, it opens up the outside of the plate, he can use his changeup, he can use his backdoor breaking ball, and he's very comfortable doing it."

Curt Schilling breaks down Clay Buchholz's stellar start against the Rays and what he has to do to become an ace.

BOSTON -- The first man Clay Buchholz faced Monday afternoon against Baltimore singled to center. The fourth flied to the warning track in right, the fifth walked and the sixth also took right fielder Shane Victorino to the wall. There were two more singles by Orioles hitters in the third.

It was not a stretch to wonder if Buchholz was going to have much success on the afternoon. Those worries are based largely on the fact that 2012 is still fresh in the minds of many in Red Sox land. However, Buchholz and the team as a whole are in a very, very different place.

Despite some bumps along the way, Buchholz finished with seven scoreless innings in a 3-1 win to improve to 2-0 and drop his ERA to 0.64. He and Jon Lester have combined to allow three runs in 26 innings this season, including 17 scoreless frames in a row.

"Anytime you get that kind of starting pitching it's going to give us a chance to win some games late," manager John Farrell said of Buchholz and Lester after the 3-1 victory. "Those two guys, particularly, are throwing the ball well."

The 2010 Red Sox season will largely be remembered as the one that saw several significant players suffer serious injuries. Buchholz and Lester were the mainstays and the real reason the team remained somewhat relevant into September. Both finished in the top six in the Cy Young Award voting while presumed staff leader Josh Beckett languished through a miserable campaign. But due to injuries or ineffectiveness, that two-headed monster had gone into hibernation. Perhaps it is back, and with it the chance for the Red Sox to do some special things this season. A shutdown bullpen and a near perfect defense (the Sox entered the day as one of four teams in the majors yet to commit an error) certainly increase the likelihood of a winning formula on days when Buchholz and Lester take the mound.

Farrell made sure to temper any enthusiasm over his team's 5-2 start, noting that there is work to be done. Buchholz, to his credit, echoed that sentiment and focused on the negatives, a sure sign of someone intent on being there for the long haul.

"I didn't really have one thing that was working the whole day," Buchholz said. "Was up in the zone, couple of balls hit early that would've gotten out stayed in the park. Other than that it was sorta a grind there for a little bit."

What rescued Buchholz on Monday was his ability to get strikeouts in big spots. He insisted on pitching more to contact this year, but was able to bring a little extra when he needed it most on Monday. Buchholz recorded six of his eight K's via the fastball, including one to get Steve Pearce to finish the seventh with a man on second.

That was one of four strikeouts Buchholz used to end an inning. The other that caught Farrell's attention came in the third. After a pair of two-out singles gave the Orioles the game's first threat, Buchholz fell behind the dangerous Adam Jones. The two battled to a full count before Buchholz unleashed perhaps his best breaking ball of the afternoon, a doozy which froze Jones and unleashed the first real roar of the season from the fans at Fenway.

"You can't say enough for what Clay did for us," Farrell said.

Buchholz, whose ERA after two starts last year was 9.82, is the first Red Sox pitcher to go at least seven innings while allowing one run or none in each of his first two starts since Beckett in 2006.

That's all well and good. Now comes the hard part. Not only do Buchholz and Lester have work to do to maintain this early dominance, but the rest of the rotation has to do its best to follow suit. It is no coincidence that Boston is 4-0 in games started by Buchholz and Lester and 1-2 in all others.

"They're extremely important to us," Farrell said of the twin aces, "but I don't want to take anything away from everybody else. We're going to go as far as our rotation takes us."

Farrell caught himself, making sure to circle back around and take more stock of what his two star righties have done thus far.

"To have two guys at the front end of it starting the season as they are, as consistent as they are, it's a very good tone," he said. "We're very well aware that we're only seven games into this, but it's great to see them go out and really take control of the tempo of the game."

Even when they don't have their best stuff.

NEW YORK -- Good morning from the corner of 49th and Lex, where it was front-page news in The New York Times that Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has left agent Scott Boras for a new sports agency begun by hip-hopper Jay-Z; where Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy, if form held, spent the off day holed up in his hotel room (no sightseeing for the RemDawg); and where the Red Sox got an assist from former Sox manager Terry Francona, whose Cleveland Indians ended Toronto’s hopes of an undefeated season by spoiling the Jays’ home opener.

Even if Tito, in his postgame comments, made it clear that Larry Lucchino should never have tried to break him of his chewing habit.

“I was so nervous the whole game, it surprised me," Francona told reporters after the Indians beat R.A. Dickey and the highly touted Jays 4-1 at the Rogers Centre. "I came to realize early in the game how much I care about these guys already that it hit me like a ton of bricks, and I was a nervous wreck. I went through three things of tobacco. My tongue is four sizes too big right now."

The Red Sox, after a day off, play the Yankees again Wednesday night in the Bronx, where temperatures may dip into the 30s before the end of the game. With a win tonight, the Sox will match the number of victories they had last season in Yankee Stadium, where they went 2-7. In 2012, they lost six of their first seven games against the Yankees, including the memorable April 21 game in which they blew a 9-0 lead to lose 15-9, and GM Ben Cherington issued his first hollow vote of confidence for the manager. They wound up the season losing their last five to the Yanks, a streak that ended Monday when Jon Lester and the bullpen throttled the Bombers 8-2.

The night before the Sox blew the huge lead against the Yanks, Clay Buchholz started against them; he should have worn a hard hat to the mound -- he gave up five home runs in six innings. The homers all came with the bases empty, otherwise the score would have been a lot worse than it was (6-2).

Buchholz is starting tonight, and he should be comforted by the fact that none of the Yankees who homered against him that night will be in the lineup tonight. Alex Rodriguez is out indefinitely (permanently?) with a bad hip, Russell Martin is with the Pirates, Nick Swisher is with the Indians, and Eric Chavez (two home runs) is with the Diamondbacks.

A stunning stat highlighted by ESPN’s crack research team: The Yankees led the majors with 245 home runs last season, but 201 of those home runs weren’t on the team’s 2013 Opening Day roster, due to injuries and free-agency departures. Nine of their top 10 home run hitters from last season are on the DL or other teams. Cano is the only one on the active roster, and his swing went AWOL last postseason, when he had just three hits in 41 plate appearances, none of them leaving the premises (just trying to be helpful to Jay-Z in his contract negotiations).

But if the past offers a clue, Cano has a good chance of breaking out of it against Buchholz. He is batting .480 against the Sox right-hander with 12 hits in 25 at-bats. That includes the home run he hit off Buchholz on Oct. 1, his last start of the season, one in which he was shelled for eight runs in the second inning, including home runs by Cano, Martin and Curtis Granderson. That gave him a 15.26 ERA for his two starts against the Bombers.

Buchholz wasn’t much better against the Yanks the previous two seasons: a combined 2-2 with a 5.48 ERA, which suggests it might be in Buchholz’s best interests to alter his approach.

And maybe, instead of focusing on the dreadful way Buchholz began 2012 -- 10 home runs and a 9.09 ERA through his first six starts -- the focus should shift to his outstanding spring; working at a far brisker pace than his major league-worst 25.6 seconds between pitches last year, he posted a 0.79 ERA in six starts.

Manager John Farrell noted that Buchholz this season is freed from worrying about the 2011 stress fracture in his back that made him tentative last season.

“The one thing that was evident early on was that he came in without any physical issues to hold him back,” Farrell said Monday in Yankee Stadium. “I thought he was better overall, particularly with his fastball location at the bottom of the strike zone. If that holds true to form, he should be a very good and certainly a very strong starting pitcher for us.

“What that means in innings, wins, losses, time will tell. But he’s in a good place right now to start the season.”

The Red Sox will be opposed by Hiroki Kuroda, a 16-game winner who was 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA in five starts against the Sox last season. He will be facing a much different lineup this season, one that might soon be reinforced by the return of shortstop Stephen Drew, who has been cleared by MLB to resume playing after suffering a concussion. Drew had five plate appearances in an extended spring game in the Fort on Tuesday.

There will be no controversy when Drew is ready to play; shortstop Jose Iglesias will be sent to Pawtucket. The Sox are paying Drew $9.5 million this season and are confident that J.D.’s younger brother, fully recovered from the ankle fracture that derailed his career in 2011, will revert to the form that made him one of the game’s better shortstops on both sides of the ball.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Takeaways from the Jet, where you might think it simplistic, but coming from Clay Buchholz, it sounded just about right Saturday:

"It feels good to feel good," the Red Sox right-hander said after yet another strong spring outing Saturday, 5 1/3 innings in which the only run he allowed came on a home run by Pittsburgh's Garrett Jones during a 5-3 Pirates win.

Buchholz, who will throttle down in his final spring outing Thursday here against the Twins, threw 88 pitches, striking out five and walking one.

After falling behind the other starters early in camp with a mild hamstring strain, Buchholz went at least five innings in each of his last two turns and has an 0.96 ERA (2 ER in 18 2/3 innings) to show for his spring work.

I'll throw in the usual disclaimer about not putting too much stock in spring numbers, although maybe there was one number in Buchholz's spring last year that might have been a harbinger to his slow start: He gave up five home runs in 20 2/3 innings in Florida. The number of home runs doubled to 10 in 32 2/3 innings through his first six starts last season, a big reason for his ghastly 9.09 ERA on May 6.

No one wants to hear this, but there were times during that stretch in which Buchholz actually pitched quite well, but he paid dearly for every mistake. Throw in some bad luck and shaken confidence, and the unhappy outcomes multiplied before he finally righted himself.

He hopes to author a different opening chapter this season, with the intention of refining his changeup a little more between now and his first start, presumably scheduled for April 3 in New York against the Yankees.

"The changeup's not quite there," he said, "but I threw a bunch of good ones today."

While he is pleased with his own progress, Buchholz might even be happier for John Lackey, who may be embarking on one of the most remarkable transformations by a Red Sox player in recent years, from pariah to centerpiece.

Don't laugh. A scout who has tracked Lackey since he was in Class A ball said this spring's version of Lackey is the best he has seen since the early years.

"Look at the body; he looks like he's still in junior college," the scout marveled.

When the scout's comments were relayed to Buchholz, he nodded.

"He looks free, like his whole delivery is free and easy," Buchholz said. "You don't see that cringe when he lets go of the ball knowing that whatever pitch he throws, it's going to hurt.

"I've never been in that situation -- knock on wood -- but I can't imagine it hurting every time I throw the ball 100 to 110 times every five days."

Lackey underwent Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery on Nov. 1, 2011, meaning that on Opening Day, it will be exactly 17 months since he underwent the procedure. That is on the outer range of the amount of time required for full recovery; for example, Mike Pelfrey is in Twins camp bidding for a job, and April 1 will mark just 11 months since he had surgery.

There are hurdles still to be cleared for Lackey, especially as he extends his outings, but the early returns have been promising.

"Everybody is talking about Lester and Buchholz," Buchholz said, "but Lack and Demp [Ryan Dempster] are a couple of pitchers who have had great careers.

"I hope people can swallow their pride a little bit and get over their idea that Lack is a bum, the way they've looked at him the last couple of years. He didn't throw a single pitch last year, and he still was dealing with negative stuff."

The most extreme example of that came in August, when Lackey was called out by a website for carrying two beers out of the clubhouse after a game in Cleveland, even though he was not playing and the Red Sox had no rules against having beer in the clubhouse on the road.

The report also mocked Lackey for going on the road to rehab with the club, even though Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement stipulates a rehabbing player can do so at home or on the road and a player must give written permission to a team before he can be sent to the team's spring training facility for more than 20 days of rehab.

In short, Lackey was engaged in behavior well within accepted limits, but because he had already built up a backlog of negativity stemming from poor performances, combative behavior and a messy personal life, he remained a convenient target.

But this spring, all the elements for an altered perception are there: He is healthy and pitching well, his personal life is no longer occupying the gossip columns, and he has jettisoned much of the hostility from his dealings with the media.

"It's a lot easier for him to be that way now," Buchholz said, "without all the negative stuff. People have their opinions. But it's awesome to see him smiling and cutting up, having fun. He's an awesome guy."

And there's little doubt, Buchholz agrees, that the extreme physical makeover Lackey has undergone, dropping anywhere from 17 to 40 pounds, depending on who is making the estimate, has made a huge difference. Manager John Farrell said the trimmed-down Lackey has given him much greater command of the strike zone.

"People wouldn't believe it was him if they just saw him on TV," Buchholz said. "He did a tremendous amount of hard work. I know in the offseason, he was in Arizona and I was in Texas, so I was an hour ahead time-wise, but when I'd be going to work out, he'd be just leaving."

Buchholz doesn't mind the fact that, after last season, people have low expectations of this rotation. But they may be in for a big surprise.

"It's going to be fun," he said.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Takeaways from the Fort, where if John Farrell has his way, the days of being able to write a novel, knit a sweater, or cook a five-course meal in the time it takes a Red Sox pitcher to release a pitch are about to come to an end. "Pick up the pace, man," is no longer a suggestion, but a mandate in Sox camp, which should warm Bud Selig's heart.

Bobby Valentine famously complained about it, calling out Josh Beckett from an ESPN broadcast booth during a Yankees-Sox game in 2011.

"That's a half hour added to this game of him standing around and us sitting around watching him do nothing," Valentine said on the air, words he later had to explain to Beckett after he was hired as Sox manager.

FanGraphs.com clocked Beckett in that game at an average of 40.3 seconds between pitches with runners on base, and 25 seconds with the bases empty. That season, Clay Buchholz, perhaps taking his cue from the purported leader of the staff, had an even slower average pace than Beckett -- 26.7 seconds to 26.2 -- according to the website, although the night Valentine called him out, Beckett was taking an average of 31.8 seconds per pitches.

Well, Beckett is in L.A. now, where the celebrities will probably appreciate the extra time for texting. Farrell, meanwhile, has pulled out the stopwatch to make his point to Buchholz, who was the model of brisk efficiency in three sharp innings of work during Thursday's 12-5 win over the Minnesota Twins in Hammond Stadium.

"We've tried to shorten down the number of time in between pitches," Farrell said. "Not so much speeding his delivery, but getting back up on the mound and delivering a pitch. It was noticeably different today."

The Sox timed Buchholz in his side sessions, urging him to cut his time between pitches to about 15 seconds. The rule, seldom if ever enforced, is 12 seconds between pitches when there are no runners on base, and common sense discretion on the part of the umpires with runners on.

Buchholz threw just eight pitches in his first inning, and eight in his last. In the second inning, the Twins put runners on the corners with singles, but Buchholz got out of it with a popup and a whiff. He threw 38 pitches in all, 31 for strikes, struck out four while walking no one, and acknowledged that when he's commanding the strike zone, he likes the faster tempo.

"We tried to make it a point, even when I miss with a pitch, to get the ball and get back on the mound and regroup and go from there rather than taking my time and thinking about it," Buchholz said.

If he keeps this up, we'll all be home before "Letterman." It probably helps Buchholz that John Lackey and newcomer Ryan Dempster, the reigning elders on the staff, both like to work quickly, models to be emulated.

"Today I felt like I had pretty good command of everything I threw," Buchholz said. "I threw everything. I've thrown everything in both starts, I was just more on point with it today. I was able to throw some curveballs back to back ... [some] cutters, fastballs and a couple of changeups."

* Daniel Bard hadn't pitched in a game since Feb. 25, the Sox electing instead to work on improving the length and direction of his stride in side sessions. As with Buchholz, the lessons appear to have taken -- at least on the first pop quiz -- with Bard retiring all three batters he faced and with perhaps his best velocity in months.

"Very encouraging," Farrell said. "He stayed behind a lot of fastballs. Improved command, improved velocity. A very good day for him.

"I think he was probably 95-97 [mph], which might be the best velocity he's shown in a little over a year. But I think setting aside the velocity, just the way he repeated his delivery was the most important thing."

* Mike Napoli hit his third home run of the spring, a three-run shot over the left-field fence. Along with Dustin Pedroia's double, it keyed a five-run fifth off Twins reliever Caleb Thielbar, the Sox opening an 8-0 lead.

Napoli's power this spring elicited this comparison from Buchholz:

"I said to somebody the other day, he's sort of built for Fenway like Jason Bay," Buchholz said. "It's fun to watch."

Bay hit 45 home runs in the 200 games he played for the Sox in 2008 and 2009. He's hit a total of 26 in the three seasons since. He's with the Mariners now, trying to win a spot.

* Drew Sutton, trying to win a spot as a bench player, had two hits, including a double lost in the sun, and had a clean day at third base.

* Outfielder Ryan Sweeney, in the running for a backup outfield job a year after he was playing regularly, threw Jeff Clement out at the plate from right field.

* And last, but certainly not least, rookie pitcher Allen Webster put on another show, striking out five batters in three innings. Webster was touched for a run on a triple that Jackie Bradley Jr. nearly speared with a diving attempt, and a single, but again featured a terrific changeup to complement his fastball.

"Today he threw a couple of curveballs he hadn't thrown yet, but when he has that kind of velocity and uses his changeup to right-handed hitters, it opens up a number of ways to attack a right-handed hitter," Farrell said. "He's shown very good mound presence and poise, and that was again the case today.

"Some good sliders early in the count, some swing and miss to some, and then he threw a strike to a left-hander with the curveball, and he's been impressive every time he's walked to the mound, as we've said. He has three different types of putaway pitches. He's got a bright future."

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Takeaways from the Fort, where Clay Buchholz made it through his first formal spring exercise, Allen Webster brought the most heat on an unseasonably cool Florida day, and Shane Victorino and Alfredo Aceves prepared to leave camp for a little flag-waving -- Victorino for Team USA, Aceves for Team Mexico -- both playing in the World Baseball Classic.

Buchholz, with his first exhibition start having been delayed by a tweaked hamstring sustained in a fielding drill on the first official day of camp, ran up a high pitch count in Saturday's 2-1 Sox win over the Twins, throwing 40 pitches to register four outs before manager John Farrell pulled him with one out in the second. That's what happens when you go to a three-ball count on five different hitters, but for Buchholz, that was of far less import than the fact he was able to throw all three of his pitches, felt good doing so, and actually threw first-pitch strikes six times.

With camp running longer than usual because of the WBC, Buchholz will have plenty of time to refine his mechanics and his stuff. He can ill afford to start this season the way he did last, when he gave up five or more earned runs in each of his first six starts, and surrendered a whopping 10 home runs in just 32⅔ innings. Until he finally righted himself, Buchholz was turning every hitter he faced into a potential Hall of Famer, which is where a batting line of .343/.428/.613/1.041 would get a hitter. That's what everyone was hitting collectively against Buchholz into May.

"It's sad it had to take that long to get in the right form," Buchholz said of his awful start, "but I felt as good as anybody in the game for a 2½-to-3-month span [after that]. I was confident. The team was confident."

The numbers underscore why he had every reason to be confident. Over a span of 15 starts that took him through mid-August and a bout with esophagitis that sidelined him for three weeks, Buchholz's 2.69 ERA ranked 10th among big league starters with at least 75 innings, and he surrendered just eight home runs in 107 innings.

With the memory of his early-season struggles still fresh, Buchholz said he is determined to not measure his expectations by the numbers.

"If you're able to go deep into the game every time you go out there, that alone should take care of everything else," he said. "The numbers will come if you do everything right."

Buchholz had 13 starts in which he went at least seven innings and gave up three runs or fewer. That was the most on the staff, but 21 big league pitchers had more, led by Tampa Bay's David Price, who went 15-1 in 22 such starts. It's a great barometer of true ace status: The next five names on the list are R.A. Dickey and Clayton Kershaw, with 21 apiece, Felix Hernandez with 20, and Justin Verlander and Johnny Cueto with 19 apiece.

That's what a top-of-the-rotation starter does; it's what the Sox want to see more of from Buchholz and Jon Lester, who made 10 such starts in 2012.

* While the Boston media corps was engaged in clubhouse conversation with Victorino prior to his departure to join Team USA in Arizona, Webster registered a scintillating encore to his first appearance last Monday in Dunedin, touching 99 on the radar gun again while throwing three scoreless innings.

"You missed Webster?" Farrell said. "You missed the highlight of the day. Ask the umpires. It was an impressive performance."

But as with fellow newcomer Rubby De La Rosa, Farrell says the plan is for Webster to begin the season in the minors as well, assuming the five starters he has slotted in the rotation remain healthy. "Our rotation is spoken for," he said. But there is every reason to believe both pitchers will be called upon at some point this summer, and the early returns promise far better than run-of-the-mill call-ups.

* Aceves had a hefty workload, throwing 3⅔ innings and giving up a long home run to Justin Morneau that accounted for Minnesota's only run.

* Juan Carlos Linares hit an opposite-field home run to right, and Ryan Sweeney singled home the other Boston run.

* Jose De La Torre, who is leaving to pitch for Team Puerto Rico, which is scheduled to visit the Fort on Tuesday night to play the Sox, had a seven-pitch ninth inning, including two whiffs, for the save.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- There's no rush. Clay Buchholz said he's not going to force anything in his recovery from a tweaked hamstring suffered on the first day of camp.

"They told me four days ago if it was midseason and I needed to pitch, then I could pitch," he said after throwing 37 pitches Saturday in a simulated game on Field 2 before the Red Sox met the Tampa Bay Rays in their Grapefruit League opener.

"We're basically treating this as we have two extra weeks in spring training and there's no rush to get back. I'm still going to have six, maybe seven outings in spring training. I don't think there's anything that's going to be holding me back."

Buchholz said he "felt really good" in his sim game -- his arm and his hamstring. The only disappointment was his delivery from the stretch -- something he hasn't had a chance to work on.

"There were definitely some kinks in the delivery," he said.

He said he probably will throw in the bullpen at an undetermined date and then get on a five-day routine and rejoin the starting pitchers.

Asked if he expects a big season, he said: "I feel great. I don't like putting expectations on numbers, because that's ultimately what pitching is -- a numbers game. I feel strong enough to go forward and get to that innings mark."

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A few quick hits from manager John Farrell’s post-workout media session Wednesday:

* Clay Buchholz, who strained his hamstring Feb. 12, threw 30 pitches in live batting practice, which Farrell said was consistent for starters for their first round of live BP.

“He came out of today feeling good about himself,” Farrell said. “He used all of his pitches and it was an impressive work day. The intensity level was good.”

Farrell said Buchholz likely will throw a bullpen session before he gets into a game situation.

* Felix Doubront, who has had minor soreness in his left shoulder and whose offseason conditioning has been questioned, had his first bullpen session, throwing 25 pitches. Farrell didn’t see it because he was watching live BP, but said that Doubront “came out of it fine. No issue health-wise. It’s the first progressive step.” Doubront will have another bullpen session Friday.

* Asked if the acquisition of Mike Carp on Wednesday signaled the end of the moves, Farrell said: “I don’t think you ever stop looking for players. But there’s nothing imminent.”

* The Boston College Eagles are not going to like the lineup card when they see it before Thursday’s 4 p.m. game at JetBlue Park. All of the regulars are scheduled to play in the 1:35 game against Northeastern. The Eagles will be rubbing shoulders with Daniel Butler instead of Dustin Pedroia. “We want to keep the schedule as consistent as possible early in camp,” Farrell said.

Explaining his affinity for the games against college teams, he said: “Whether they’re college games, whether it’s an intrasquad game, I think there’s a lot of value. You take a pitcher from throwing batting practice in front of a screen to the batting cage, and strip all that way and it’s the next progressive step. So these are beneficial. No aluminum bats, so that’s good.”

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz threw a successful bullpen session on Monday, showing no ill effects of a hamstring strain he suffered last week.

The right-hander threw 10 pitches in front of the mound, then another 35 from the rubber. He’s expected to throw a live batting practice session on Wednesday.

“Buchholz had a successful bullpen today,” said Red Sox manager John Farrell. “He threw all his pitches, no restrictions. He’s not cleared for full baseball activity, but his mound session was good.”

Buchholz suffered the injury during fielding drills on the first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers last Tuesday. Since, he’s played catch and long toss and Monday was his first time off the mound.

“It felt good, everything was good,” Buchholz said. “If I had to put a percentage on it, I was 80 percent to start and then finished at around 85 percent. I let a couple of them go, just testing it and everything was fine. Just a little soreness, stiffness is all that was there, but by talking to the guys in the training room, that’s to be expected and hopefully in a couple of days I’ll be free of anything.”

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Clay Buchholz, who was set back a few days when he tweaked a hamstring in fielding drills last week, is scheduled Monday morning to throw his first bullpen since camp opened.

The outfielders had their mental skills meeting Monday morning. Bob Tewksbury, who is conducting the classes, reminded me that he is not a psychologist. He holds his master’s degree in sports psychology, but does not yet have his doctorate. He said the proper way to refer to him is “mental skills coach.’’

Me, I still call him the former Cardinals pitcher who in 1992 had a 16-5 record, his .762 winning percentage the best in the NL, posted a 2.16 ERA and averaged a minuscule 0.8 walks per 9 innings (20 walks in 233 innings), the best walks per nine ratio in the majors. He had the same baseball-best ratio the next season, too.

Tewksbury finished third in the Cy Young Award voting that season behind two Braves, winner Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.

Workouts this morning are scheduled to focus on pickoffs and rundowns and team defense.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The first official day of full-squad workouts was rather uneventful here on the backfields at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. That just means everything went according to plan for manager John Farrell and bench coach Torey Lovullo. The team held its annual spring training meeting in the morning, and the session lasted 50 minutes before the players took the field.

After they stretched, the players broke off into groups. The position players first focused on baserunning drills. Longtime Red Sox staffer and batting practice pitcher Ino Guerrero served as a third-base coach and waved the runners home. One small problem emerged: He was waving his arm the wrong way (counterclockwise), which had the players, especially Dustin Pedroia, giving Guerrero a hard time. Even Farrell got a laugh from it.

The catchers worked out as a group, with new bullpen coach Dana LeVangie leading the way. After the pitchers worked on some fielding drills, some select hurlers tossed bullpen sessions, including Jon Lester, John Lackey, Alfredo Aceves, Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa.

The position players took BP, and the day was complete by 11:45 a.m.

* Lester is dedicated to bounce back from a horrible 2012 season. His session looks more like a real game, and he wasn't messing around with his session on Friday. The lefty was under the watchful eye of new pitching coach Juan Nieves and Farrell. Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was behind the plate.

"Jonny looked great," Saltalamacchia said. "This is the second bullpen I've caught him this spring. All fastballs, which is great, and he's working on just keeping the ball down and commanding. I was trying to give him some feedback on how he was doing. You don't want to say 'great job' on every pitch even though every pitch was great."

* Aceves' bullpen was an interesting one. Prior to each pitch during the session, he would yell out a teammate's name to the catcher. He started with Ellsbury, Pedroia and Ortiz and worked his way through an imaginary batting order. "I try to simulate a game, so when it's real I'm ready," he said. "It helps."

Aceves is being stretched out this spring as a starter because he'll represent Mexico in that role at the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

"To represent your country, for me, it's something huge, man," he said. "Not too many people can play baseball, play in the field, can throw a baseball, can hit, can run. Not too many people can do it. I'm excited to take advantage of that."

Once the WBC is completed and Aceves returns to the Red Sox, he's prepared to fill any role given to him by Farrell.

"Play. Play baseball. I just want to play baseball," Aceves said. "It's not just a game. I like to play. I have the skills, thank God. He gave me the skills and my father's. My parents, they gave me the genetics. I like to be around my teammates, have fun, study, to learn and to hang out."

Farrell understands and respects Aceves' versatility because he can pitch in any role needed.

* Sox starter Felix Doubront is set to throw his first session of the spring on Wednesday. He'll play long toss at 135 feet on Saturday. Each of his workouts has increased in intensity.

* Reliever Craig Breslow played catch at 75 feet today and is making steady progress. He's still in the early phases of a throwing program, and there's no timetable when he'll get on the mound.

* Starter Clay Buchholz (hamstring) played long toss at 120 feet on Friday. He's likely to get back on the mound to keep his arm strength up before he's given clearance to return to full baseball activity. He's had no ill effects while playing catch.