Dustin Pedroia homers into the Monster Seats to lead off the ninth inning, the only run the Red Sox would score last night against Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

BOSTON — The plan for struggling rookie right-hander Clay Buchholz was to give him a few extra days to work on some things with pitching coach John Farrell.

That plan was altered by Mother Nature’s rainout of Friday night’s game. Now, instead of an extra day between starts, Buchholz has been pushed from a start today to an outing Wednesday night in Baltimore. He’ll have nine days of rest between starts.

Pushing Buchholz’s start to Wednesday allows the Red Sox to keep Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka on their normal days of rest, with starts in Baltimore tomorrow and Tuesday nights, respectively.

“Being fresh won’t be a problem (for Buchholz),” said manager Terry Francona. “The extra days should make him extra strong, if anything.”

The Sox will use the time to have Buchholz throw a couple of extra side sessions with Farrell in an attempt to straighten out his mechanics. Buchholz is 2-8 with a 6.32 earned run average and hasn’t won since May 2.

“We’re mixing trying to help him and trying to win. We’re trying to do both,” said Francona. “Regardless of whether Clay is throwing on five, seven or nine days, we’ll take it and turn it into a positive. You can mix winning and development together and when you mix in rain, you have to do the best you can.”

Colon’s comeback slowed

Bartolo Colon’s rehab assignment was cut short a bit because of an upset stomach, but the Red Sox won’t try to play catchup by bringing him back too soon.

Colon was supposed to throw 65 pitches or so Friday night in his third rehab outing for the Pawtucket Red Sox. But Colon had to come out after one inning, after throwing 17 pitches, because he was sick to his stomach.

The plan is for Colon to get his normal four days of rest and then return to the mound on Thursday at McCoy rather than bring him back earlier because of the abbreviated workload Friday night, said Francona.

“It didn’t help,” said Francona of Colon’s shortened outing in terms of the veteran right-hander’s return to Boston’s rotation.

“But if a guy is supposed to throw 65 pitches and throws (roughly) 15 and throws up, what are you going to do?” said Francona.

Wakefield making progress

Tim Wakefield, on the disabled list because of a stiff right shoulder, played catch yesterday afternoon for the first time in a week. The knuckleballer made about 30 tosses from a distance of 60 feet.

“I played catch until they told me to stop,” said Wakefield. “There were no problems.”

Wakefield is expected to repeat the process today, maybe a few more tosses and from a longer distance, depending on how his shoulder rebounds from yesterday’s test.

Welcome aboard

The Red Sox officially announced the signings yesterday of six picks from the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. Outfielders Ryan Westmoreland of Portsmouth and Peter Hissey, along with pitchers Tyler Wilson, Kyle Stroup, Colby Cervenka and shortstop Carson Blair all became members of the Red Sox organization. All have been assigned to the Gulf Coast League Red Sox.

Williams to be honored

The Red Sox will honor former manager Dick Williams for his recent induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame during a pregame ceremony today at Fenway Park. Williams, who managed the Sox from 1967 to 1969, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch, which will be caught by Francona, who played for Williams in Montreal in 1981. Williams is best known for guiding the 1967 Impossible Dream team to Boston’s first A.L. pennant since 1946.

Around the bases

Jason Varitek’s single in his first at-bat snapped an 0-for-15 skid that spanned four games. … Jason Bay went 2-for-3, the sixth time he has had at least two hits in his 14 games with the Red Sox. Bay has had at least one hit in 13 of those 14 games. … Dustin Pedroia is batting .550 (11-for-20) with five extra-base hits and four RBI in his last four games. He has hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games at a .357 clip (25-for-70). … The homer by Pedroia marked the second time in the last two homestands that Boston has homered in the ninth, snapping a shutout bid. The Angels’ John Lackey lost his shutout on a two-run homer by Kevin Youkilis in the final inning on July 29.

jmcdonal@projo.com