7 stellar innings from Matt Clement and a couple of unlikely triples by David Ortiz and Bill Mueller were all the Sox needed to coast to an 8-0 victory to close out a 5-1 homestand. Clement’s outing was particularly noteworthy. Seven innings of 3 hit ball, getting almost half of his outs by way of the strikeout. It was probably Clement’s best start of the season and a further lift to a team that has gotten fantastic pitching from its starters on the homestand.

The game got out of hand early with the Sox putting up a 5 spot in the 3rd inning, keyed by the Papi triple and a 2 run blast by the suddenly scorching Jay Payton (who’s apparently decided to showcase himself for a trade). All of the starters had hits, with the exception of John Olerud and Mark Bellhorn.

The much maligned Alan Embree finished out the last 2 innings, striking out 3 and allowing just a single hit. Embree focused entirely on his fastball, touching the mid-90s, which is a decent sign for folks who’d like to see Embree hang around for a while longer. On the other hand, it is hard to read too much into 2 innings of a blowout against a team who wants to get home.

The Sox head to Cleveland for a lefty-lefty matchup, with David Wells (with his 1.64 ERA in June) against C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia, since 2002, has mediocre numbers against the Sox — 4 homers allowed, 4 BB, 4 K in about 22 innings. The pitching matchup favors Boston, but all bets are off when the Sox are on the road.

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