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A day later, but Byrd ready to make Fenway debut

Aug 16, 2008 - 10:09 AM Toronto (62-60) at Boston (71-51) 7:05 p.m. EDT

BOSTON (Ticker) -- It took an extra day, but Paul Byrd should be able to make his debut at Fenway Park Saturday when the Boston Red Sox host the Toronto Blue Jays.

Byrd was scheduled to start Friday, but the game was postponed after an 85-minute delay due to rain.

Byrd (7-10, 4.53 ERA) was placed on waivers by the Cleveland Indians and was acquired by the Red Sox on Tuesday for a player to be named or cash considerations.

The 37-year-old righthander suddenly became somewhat of a necessity since Clay Buchholz has been ineffective and Tim Wakefield was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a shoulder injury.

Coming off a complete-game victory against the Blue Jays on Saturday, Byrd has won four straight starts and a 1.24 ERA in that span.

In the 4-2 win, he outdueled ace Roy Halladay (13-9, 2.72), who is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA in two outings against the Red Sox.

He will attempt to do the same Saturday with Halladay scheduled to go for the Blue Jays. Halladay has held opponents to two runs or less in seven of his last 10 outings.

Boston has won four straight and is coming off a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers. It stands seven games ahead of the New York Yankees (64-58) for second place in the AL East and 2 1/2 games in front of the Minnesota Twins (68-53) in the wild-card hunt.

The Blue Jays were denied a four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, but have won seven of their last 11.