Red Sox suffer another injury but still hang on to beat Giants

Boston starter Clay Buchholz left Saturday’s contest after pitching just one inning, but the Red Sox batters picked him up by scoring all four runs in the first two innings to beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2 at AT&T Park.

Giants’ starter Madison Bumgarner made his first big league appearance of the 2010 season and immediately showed a national audience what all the hype is about by striking out Red Sox leadoff hitter Marcos Scutaro. But just one batter later, Darnell McDonald hit a solo homer in the first and just like that, the Giants’ phenom looked human. In the second inning, Mike Cameron blasted a three-run homer to dead center — his first longball with the Red Sox — to give the BoSox a 4-0 advantage.

After Cameron’s bomb, the Red Sox (who lost 2008 AL MVP Dustin Pedroia for at least six weeks to a broken foot at AT&T Park yesterday) suffered another huge loss, when Buchholz hyperextended his left knee while running to second base on a double play grounder. Buchholz (who has 10 wins and a 2.45 ERA) had just come up with his first big league hit.

After the game, Buchholz (pictured, above) said he felt something pop behind his knee. But he was checked out and everything is structurally fine. He’ll be evaluated again tomorrow but the Red Sox hope that he will make his next start. With days off Monday and Thursday, the Sox could push Buchholz back a bit if they want to and give him some time off.

Seven Sox relievers combined to allow just two runs over eight innings, with particularly noteworthy performances by Scott Atchison (2.1 innings, one run), Dustin Richardson (who inherited a first-and-third jam with no outs in the sixth, and permitted just one run to score) and closer Jonathan Papelbon.

Buster Posey went 0-for-3 but drove in both runs for the Giants on a fielder’s choice in the fourth and a sac fly in the sixth inning. The Giants had several chances to score more runs, but left 16 men on base and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Papelbon, pitching for the first time since blowing saves on back-to-back nights in Colorado, sprinted through a perfect ninth inning, getting a pair of groundouts and a weak pop-out. He earned his 17th save, while Atchison claimed the victory after taking over for Buchholz in the second inning.