Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz sees his record drop to 2-6 after losing to the Angels last night in Boston.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

BOSTON — Clay Buchholz is the proud owner of a no-hitter. But last night, the Red Sox rookie pitcher almost had one thrown against him at Fenway Park.

The Angels’ John Lackey came within two outs of a no-no before the Sox’ Dustin Pedroia ended it with a single through the hole on the left side of the infield. No no-hitter or not, Anaheim still won by beating Buchholz, who drops to 2-6. The right-hander worked 6 1/3 innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts. The big blow was a two-run homer by the Angels’ Garret Anderson in the fourth inning.

“I thought it was one of my best games,” Buccholz said. “I had my pitches working, I had everything working. I felt like my velocity was good, but I missed my spot on the home run. Other than that, they put the ball where they had to put it at key situations.”

The Red Sox have shown patience with Buchholz, dating back to late last season when they shut him down due to arm issues and because of the number of innings he logged. This season the Sox have tweaked his delivery just a bit and they’ve sent him to Pawtucket to hone his skills.

“He ended up getting us fairly deep into the game,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “The first two innings he threw 15 pitches, which is very good.”

Buchholz allowed two runs (one earned) in the third inning, before he surrendered the homer to Anderson in the fourth. Buchholz worked into the seventh inning and was on the hook for two more runs as Anaheim has now beat the Red Sox in seven straight meetings.

“His stuff was good,” said Francona. “I thought his breaking ball tonight was one of the better ones we’ve seen.”

The manager added that he still thinks Buchholz is trying too hard on the mound, almost trying to prove his worth. The organization has all the confidence in him because if it didn’t, he would still be in Pawtucket.

“We have a lot of confidence in his ability,” Francona said. “When he first came back we said he’s still learning to do some things, and he’s doing it at this level, so it’s not the easiest place to do it, but there’s a lot there.”

End that speculation

It’s unknown at this point what the Red Sox will do, if anything, before tomorrow’s trade deadline. But one thing’s for certain: Boston won’t get first baseman Mark Teixeira.

Teixeira, 28, was acquired by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from Atlanta in exchange for first baseman Casey Kotchman and minor-league pitcher Steve Marek.

Teixeira was hitting .283 with 20 homers and 78 RBI in 102 games for the Braves this season.The Red Sox were reportedly interested in the two-time Gold Glove winner, but that was squashed last night.Marek, 24, was selected by the Angels in the 40th round of the 2004 draft. The right-hander was 2-6 with a 3.66 ERA with three saves in 34 relief appearances for Double-A Arkansas this season.

Aardsma making progress

Red Sox reliever David Aardsma, who has been sidelined with a groin pull for the past 10 days, threw “with 85-90 percent effort’” yesterday according to Francona and didn’t experience any pain.

“He still feels tightness,” said Francona, “which is expected. Until that dissipates, he’s not going to be in a game.”

Aardsma is expected to have another side session Friday, at which time the club will reassess and perhaps map out a brief rehab assignment for him next week while the club is on the road.

Cora in again

For the second time in the last three games, Alex Cora was in the lineup last night as the starting shortstop.

Part of the reasoning is that with lefty Joe Saunders going for the Angels tonight and an off-day coming Thursday, Francona wanted to find Cora some playing time now.

“The object,” said Francona, “is to keep guys sharp and productive. Playing Cora tonight is the best way to do both.”

Rookie shortstop Jed Lowrie had played seven consecutive games before Cora was inserted into the lineup last Sunday against the Yankees.

Lowrie played again on Monday before Cora was back out there last night.

Lugo to stay home

Meanwhile, shortstop Julio Lugo, on the DL with a quad pull, is still limited to non-weight bearing activities such as swimming.

He’ll remain at Fenway when the team leaves for a seven-game road trip to Kansas City and Chicago Sunday night.

“It’s good for the recuperative powers to be with a team,” said Francona, “but he can’t do any baseball activity, so he’ll stay back with [physical therapist] Scott Waugh.”

Lugo: Manny’s the man

Speaking of Lugo, teammate and friend Manny Ramirez should hire Lugo as his personal public relations manager.

As Lugo walked around the dugout during BP yesterday afternoon, he brought up the subject with a few reporters of Ramirez being traded.

“He can handle the pressure of playing in Boston,” he said.

Lugo went on to say that any player who comes into this market at this time of the season won’t be able to handle it the way Ramirez can.

Besides, he said, you can’t replace Ramirez’s bat.

When asked if he had to put money on it, what are the chances the Red Sox will move Ramirez?

“There’s a 98-percent chance that’s not going to happen,” Lugo said.

Comings and goings

Down on the farm, the Red Sox released infielder Chad Spann afternoon. He was hitting .185 in 56 games for the PawSox.

Pawtucket also activated infielder Jeff Natale from the disabled list. He has been on the DL since April 21 after he fractured his forearm when he was hit by a pitchSpann was selected by the Red Sox with their fifth-round pick (148th overall) in the 2002 draft.

He began his pro career with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox that same year and slowly worked his way through the organization before landing in Pawtucket last season.

smcadam@projo.com