PAWTUCKET — Everyone handles pressure differently.

Some people fold under it, while others thrive.

PawSox pitcher Clay Buchholz feels a lot of pressure every time he takes the mound, but he doesn’t let it get to him. He uses that adrenaline to throw the ball harder.

He knows that expectations are high for him and he’s OK with that.

The promising right-hander with a 97-mph fastball, wicked curveball, sensational slider and a changeup, had another strong outing last night.

There were 10,199 fans on hand to see Buchholz strike out nine batters in 6 1/3 innings. He scattered five hits with no walks while allowing two runs but he didn’t factor in the decision. The score was tied 2-2 when he left.

In the end, Buffalo snapped Pawtucket’s two-game winning streak in the 10th inning when Jason Cooper belted a two-out double down the left-field line.

Pawtucket left-fielder Bobby Scales, who was visibly upset in the locker room after the game and was consoled by teammate Abe Alverez whose locker is next to his, misplayed the ball and Mike Rose scored all the way from first base on the error to lift Buffalo to a 3-2 victory.

Buffalo closer Mike Koplove closed the door on the PawSox in the bottom of the 10th.

The game was a pitchers’ duel between Buchholz and Buffalo starter Jeremy Sowers, the Bisons’ 2006 Most Valuable Pitcher. Sowers allowed only four hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings.

It was a stellar outing for Buchholz compared to his last start when he walked four batters in four innings against Toledo.

“Every day I go out there I’m feeling more and more comfortable,” Buchholz said. “I’m still making a couple of mistakes and they are getting hit, but overall it felt good with every pitch that I threw tonight except for that changeup that I left out there.”

Surprisingly, Buchholz only used his fastball once to get the third strike last night. None of his other strikeouts came on a pitch that was thrown harder than 86-mph.

“A big part of my development is staying ahead in the count and being able to throw off-speed pitches for strikes, and even not for strikes and getting some swings and misses out of them,” Buchholz said. “Overall tonight, I would call it a successful outing. But you’re here to win and when you don’t win, it’s on the border of it not being a successful outing.”

Buchholz struck out the first two batters he faced, and five of the first seven Bisons.

“I’m locking in on what I want to do and what I need to do and everything is going well for me right now,” Buchholz said.

Asdrubal Cabrera led off the top of the fourth with a single hit up the middle for Buffalo’s second hit of the game. He advanced to second base on a Buchholz balk and that came back to bite Buchholz. After he struck out Ben Francisco, Ryan Mulhern hit a hard ground ball towards the gap between third and shortstop.

Pawtucket third baseman Ed Rogers dived for the ball, but it got by him. Cabrera rounded third base and beat the throw home to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead.

On a 3-2 Buchholz pitch with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, Jason Cooper lined a solo home run over the fence in left field to extend Buffalo’s lead to 2-0.

The PawSox evened the score in the bottom of the sixth frame.

After Ed Rogers hit a leadoff single, Scales (2-for-4, 2 doubles, run scored) doubled to put runners on second and third base. Jed Lowrie hit an RBI sacrifice fly to deep center field, scoring Rogers. Scales tagged up and sprinted to third base on the play.

Scales scored on a Brandon Moss grounder to third base with two outs. Buffalo third baseman Andy Marte misplayed the ball, resulting in an error.

roblee@projo.com