The adjustments used to be the problem. Clay Buchholz would throw a flawed pitch, then another, as runners rounded the bases. He had trouble recovering from problems, tending to let them spiral. But that was back in 2008, when he bottomed out.

Now, when Buchholz casually talks about the adjustments he has made in an outing, it seems natural. He knows how to make those changes, when to make them, and is able to recover much better from dicey situations.

As the Red Sox righthander said yesterday, after throwing four innings in a minor league game at the player development complex, "I was able to find out what I was doing wrong and switch it in between a pitch instead of it being three or four pitches away. Missed a couple fastballs, and felt good when I came back with them and adjusted.