BOSTON –– It was only one inning in a blowout game. And he gave up a run.

The Red Sox, though, are hoping that Clay Buchholz’s work in Toronto’s 15-4 rout of Boston will pay dividends down the road — notably in his next start, Wednesday night in Baltimore.

Buchholz, who has struggled for most of the season, had been pushed back in the rotation by the arrival of Paul Byrd and the rainout on Friday night. The rookie right-hander had been scheduled to start yesterday. The Orioles start will be Buchholz’s first in 10 days.

So, not expecting to be used yesterday with ace Josh Beckett starting, and wanting to work on a few mechanical issues, Buchholz, 2-8 with a 6.35 earned-run average and winless since May 2, had a flat-ground throwing session with pitching coach John Farrell yesterday morning.

By the sixth inning, however, Boston was losing, 11-1, when manager Terry Francona called on him for an inning. Buchholz was nicked for a run on a leadoff walk and a two-out double. He was trying to work on things in his outing, said Kevin Cash, who caught Buchholz.

“In games like that, sometimes guys pitch to the score (and just throw fastballs), but he wanted to work on all of his pitches,” said Cash. “I thought his fastball was jumping out of his hand. It was coming in at 95. He threw some good curveballs (including a whiff of Brad Wilkerson). Hopefully, he’ll take something positive out of it. With the kind of stuff he has, you would not expect he’ll struggle for a long time.”

Despite the circumstances, Francona was glad to get Buchholz into yesterday’s game.

“Actually, we’re hoping it will help him take a little bit of the edge off going into Wednesday’s game,” said Francona.

Around the bases

J.D. Drew left the game in the fourth inning with tightness in his lower back. Jeff Bailey took over in right. … Former Providence College star John McDonald, now the last major-league link to the Friars’ defunct baseball program, had three hits and three RBI, including a two-run double to cap Toronto’s six-run first. McDonald’s name has been prominently mentioned in trade talk, including with the Red Sox, for teams needing infield help. McDonald has had injury problems and got his season off to a very bad start offensively, but he now has his average up to a season-high .226. McDonald, much better known for his fielding, made a superb play in the eighth. He dived to his left to spear a hard shot by Bailey. While on the ground, he flipped the ball to Joe Inglett covering second and Inglett turned it into a double play. … Alex Rios had four doubles and a single to give him seven hits in the series for the Jays, the first six for extra bases. His two hits Saturday were a triple and a home run. Yesterday’s four doubles tied the Toronto club record. Damaso Garcia and Shannon Stewart also had four in a game.

skrasner@projo.com / pkenyon@projo.com