(Sports Network) - Paul Byrd gets to face the team he started the 2008 season with when the veteran hurler takes the mound for the playoff-bound Boston Red Sox in tonight's clash with the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park.

Byrd was traded by the Indians to Boston on August 12 after the Tribe fell out of contention and has been pretty solid for the Red Sox since the deal. The right-hander has posted a 4-2 record with a 4.50 earned run average in seven starts for the defending world champions, who wrapped up a berth in this year's postseason with Tuesday's 5-4 win over the Indians.

The 37-year-old had won four straight starts for Boston until being reached for five runs in five innings of an 8-1 home loss to Toronto on September 13. Byrd faced the Blue Jays again this past Friday at the Rogers Centre, where he allowed three runs in a six-inning no-decision.

Byrd is 5-0 with an impressive 1.60 ERA over seven career starts against Cleveland, a club he went 32-27 for in 84 starts over two-plus seasons. He has struggled at Fenway Park since the trade, however, having posted a 1-2 mark with a 6.05 ERA in three starts at the historic Stadium in a Red Sox uniform.

Boston secured its fifth playoff appearance in six years with last night's one-run victory, although the team actually lost ground in the American League East race. First-place Tampa Bay swept a doubleheader in Baltimore on Tuesday and owns a three-game advantage on the Red Sox with just five to play.

The Sox reached Cleveland ace Cliff Lee (22-3) for five runs and nine hits over seven innings, handing the AL Cy Young Award favorite only his third defeat of 2008. Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer off Lee in the fourth inning, while Dustin Pedroia knocked in two runs with a double later in the game.

Boston's Jason Bay snapped a 4-4 tie when he brought home Pedroia with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.

Tim Wakefield (10-11) made the lead stand by holding the Indians to four runs on six hits over the first six innings. Five Red Sox relievers then combined for three scoreless frames, with Jonathan Papelbon getting the final four outs to earn his 41st save of the year.

Jhonny Peralta went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Indians, whose seven-game win streak came to a halt. Grady Sizemore, Jamey Carroll and Shin-Soo Choo also knocked in runs in the loss.

Cleveland will try to rebound tonight behind Fausto Carmona, who was removed from his last start in the seventh inning following an altercation with Detroit's Gary Sheffield that spurred a benches-clearing brawl.

After hitting Sheffield with a pitch in Friday's 6-5 win over the Tigers, Carmona further irritated the Detroit slugger by throwing over to first base on a pickoff attempt. The two players then appeared to exchange words before Sheffield charged the mound and lunged at Carmona as both benches and bullpens emptied.

Carmona, who gave up four runs over 6 1/3 innings and received a no-decision, was handed a six-game suspension by Major League Baseball for his part in the fracas. The right-hander has appealed the penalty, however, making him available to pitch tonight.

The native Dominican had lost back-to-back starts prior to that outing and surrendered 14 runs over 11 2/3 innings during that rough stretch.

Carmona owns a 1-2 record with a 5.00 ERA in three career regular-season appearances against Boston, one of which was a start. The 24-year-old hasn't faced the Red Sox since Game 6 of last October's AL Championship Series, a matchup in which he was shelled for seven runs in just two innings of work.

Boston wound up defeating the Indians in seven games during the 2007 ALCS en route to the team's second World Series title in four years. The Red Sox have taken three of the four encounters between the teams so far this season.