Clay Buchholz

Saturday’s Game 2 of a four-game set with the Twins pits Clay Buchholz against Brian Duensing. Duensing, who is 2-1 with a 2.91 ERA this season, will be making his first career start against the Red Sox. He did make two relief appearances against them last year, though, allowing one run on two hits in 2 1/3 innings. Only six current Sox have faced him, with Jarrod Saltalamacchia being the only one to get a hit.

After a shaky first outing of the season, Duensing has registered four straight quality starts and his ERA has steadily decreased each game. Most recently, the 28-year-old lefty held the Royals to three runs (two earned) over seven innings, but ended up with the loss.

Buchholz, who is 2-3 with a 4.81 ERA this season, is coming off his first quality start of the year. On Monday, he allowed two runs on eight hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings in a win over the Angels.

Buchholz is 1-1 in two career starts against the Twins. He got knocked around in his first outing against them back in 2008, giving up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings. He was much better when he met them last year, though, as he held them to two runs on five hits and a walk over eight innings to pick up the W. Only four current Twins have faced Buchholz. Justin Morneau and Denard Span have enjoyed their limited time against him, as both are hitting .500.

TWINS VS. BUCHHOLZ

Michael Cuddyer (6 career plate appearances): .333 BA/.333 OBP/.333 SLG, 1 RBI, 1 strikeout

Justin Morneau (6): .500/.500/.500, 1 RBI, 2 strikeouts

Denard Span (4): .500/.500/.750

Jason Kubel (3): .000/.000/.000, 1 strikeout

Drew Butera, Alexi Casilla, Luke Hughes, Trevor Plouffe, Ben Revere, Matt Tolbert and Danny Valencia have never faced Buchholz.

RED SOX VS. DUENSING

Carl Crawford (5): .000/.200/.000, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Marco Scutaro (3): .000/.000/.000

David Ortiz (2): .000/.000/.000, 1 strikeout

Mike Cameron (1): .000/.000/.000

J.D. Drew (1): .000/.000/.000, 1 strikeout

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (1): 1.000/1.000/1.000

Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez, Jed Lowrie, Darnell McDonald, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek and Kevin Youkilis have never faced Duensing.