This weekend we’ll start with the Red Sox, as both righthanders Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden took the mound Friday.

Buchholz allowed a pair of runs on three hits and struck out seven in Triple-A Pawtucket’s 4-2 win against Toledo. In three Triple-A starts, Buchholz is now 0-1, 4.50 with 21 strikeouts in 12 innings.

Meanwhile in the Eastern League, Bowden is doing his best to anchor the Portland rotation in Buccholz’s absence. Bowden has won two of his last three starts, and allowed a pair of runs on six hits and struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings of the Sea Dogs’ 9-2 win against Connecticut.

In July, Bowden is 2-1, 3.70 with a 22-8 strikeout-walk ratio—by far his best numbers since being called up from high Class A Lancaster.

• Chase Wright’s return to Double-A didn’t go so well, as the Yankee lefthander allowed 10 runs on 11 hits over 4 1/3 innings of Trenton’s 13-5 loss to Reading. Wright, who last started for the Thunder on April 28, was reassigned with righthander Tyler Clippard to make room for 2006 first-rounders Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

• Double-A Altoona raked Indians lefthander Chuck Lofgren over the coals Friday, tagging him for six runs on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings in the Curve’s 8-6 win against Akron. Altoona first baseman Steven Pearce hit his 14th homer of the season and doubled—both against Lofgren.

• Rangers second baseman German Duran hit two homers—both off Double-A Corpus Christi lefthander Josh Muecke—in Frisco’s 6-5 win against the Hooks. With those two home runs, Duran reached the 20-homer mark, and is hitting .306/.360/.550 in 360 at-bats.

• High Class A Rancho Cucamonga righthander Bobby Mosebach pitched a nine-inning complete game, allowing a run on nine hits and striking out seven in the Quakes’ 6-1 win against Stockton.

• The best pitching matchup in the minors belonged to the Florida State League on Friday, as Cubs righthander Jeff Samardzija faced Marlins righty Brett Sinkbeil. Sinkbeil emerged the winner, allowing two runs on five hits over 7 2/3 innings in high Class A Jupiter’s 6-2 victory against Daytona. Samardzija got hit around, allowing six runs on 12 hits over 4 2/3 innings. On the season, the Cubs righthander is now 3-7, 5.06.

• Low Class A South Bend righthander Cesar Valdez tossed a nine-inning complete game one-hitter in the Silver Hawks’ 1-0 win against Beloit. The 22-year-old Dominican struck out four and did not allow a walk. The Snapper’s lone hit came off the bat of second baseman Steve Singleton in the fifth inning. Valdez improved to 6-7, 3.11 in 124 innings.

• Brewers 2006 first-rounder Jeremy Jeffress hasn’t been great this month at low Class A West Virginia, but his swing-and-miss stuff was on Friday—at times. Jeffress struck out 10, but allowed five earned runs over four innings in the Power’s 9-0 loss to Hagerstown.

• Royals speedster Patrick Norris went 5-for-5 with a double in Rookie-level Burlington’s 8-2 win against Greeneville. Norris, a 16th-round pick this year out of Oklahoma City, improved his on-base percentage to .406 while batting in the leadoff spot for the B-Royals.

• From around the complex leagues: Tigers outfielder Cameron Maybin made his first step to getting back to full-season ball and possibly Double-A to end the year, returning from the disabled list in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. Maybin, who has been out since early July with a shoulder injury, went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks in the GCL Tigers’ 7-3 loss to the GCL Yankees . . . Rangers’ 2007 first-rounder Michael Main remained unscathed in the Rookie-level Arizona League. Main allowed one hit over two innings, whiffing five . . . Twins’ 2007 first-rounder Ben Revere continues to impress in the GCL, and went 3-for-4 with a pair of steals in the GCL Twins’ 5-1 win against the Red Sox. In 102 at-bats, Revere is hitting .324/.358/.471 with 11 steals in 13 attempts . . . Blue Jays 2007 10th-round pick Joel Collins is putting on a power display in the GCL, and hit two more homers in the Blue Jays’ 9-8 win against the Braves. In 21 at-bats, Collins has gone deep five times, which equals a 1.238 slugging . . . And finally, Phillies righthander Freddy Ballestas was impressive again in the Rookie-level Venezuelan Summer League. The 20-year-old Venezuelan allowed four hits over six innings and struck out nine in the VSL Phils’ 4-2 win against the Pirates. On the season, Ballestas is now 8-3, 1.35 with a 90-18 strikeout-walk ratio in 93 innings.