SAN DIEGO — The Red Sox had no use for Clay Buchholz in July, the righthander going nearly three weeks between appearances. On Wednesday, they changed their rotation to make sure he would pitch in the important series at Toronto this weekend.

Manager John Farrell said the Sox would take advantage of the day off on Thursday to have Buchholz start on Sunday. Drew Pomeranz will be pushed back to Tuesday.

Buchholz (6-10, 4.99) has faced Toronto three times this season and thrown 8⅔ scoreless innings. He is 14-9 with a 3.24 earned run average in 21 career appearances against Toronto. That includes an 11-3 record and 2.18 ERA in 15 games at Rogers Centre.

“There’s some of that involved,’’ Farrell said on Wednesday. “You begin to look at styles and matchups and take all that into account.’’

Rick Porcello (19-3, 3.23) and Eduardo Rodriguez (2-6, 4.83) will pitch the first two games of the series. The Blue Jays will go with righthander Marco Estrada (8-7, 3.56), lefthander J.A. Happ (17-4, 3.34), and righthander Aaron Sanchez (13-2, 2.92).

For Buchholz, it was the latest evidence of how important he has become to the Sox after struggling over the first three months of the season and being demoted to the bullpen.

Buchholz is 3-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 appearances, four of them starts, since July 25. He allowed one run over 6⅔ innings against the Padres on Tuesday.

“It’s funny how things work sometimes,’’ Buchholz said. “You envision yourself pitching in important games down the stretch. It wasn’t the way I expected but I’m glad to get the opportunity.’’

Pomeranz has thrown 158⅔ innings, by far his career high. Pushing him back will give the lefthander an extra two days of rest.

David Price, who started and got the win on Wednesday, will pitch on Monday when the Sox return to Fenway Park to face the Baltimore Orioles.

Farrell said his plan is to pitch Price every five days through the end of the season. That would line him up to pitch Game 162 on Oct. 2.

Benintendi closer

Andrew Benintendi had another day of double workouts and could be activated off the disabled list next week. The rookie outfielder is out with a sprained left knee.

“Based on what’s transpired over the last three or four days, we could anticipate he’d be available at some point when we get off the road,’’ Farrell said.

“I would suspect that once we get to Toronto and we get another work day under our belts, we may be at the point that if there’s at-bats to be had somewhere, that’s a possibility. He’s responded very well to the work so far.’’

The Sox have two Single A affiliates in the postseason. If Lowell advances, the second round of the New York-Penn League playoffs would start Saturday. The same would be true for Salem in the Carolina League.

If neither team is playing, the Sox will have to find other teams, perhaps a simulated game.

Moncada sits

After striking out four times on Tuesday, rookie Yoan Moncada was out of the lineup as Travis Shaw started at third base.

Moncada is 4 of 17 in his first five games after being called up from Double A Portland. Through Tuesday, he had struck out in his last seven at-bats.

Farrell said Moncada would benefit from watching the game and talking to teammates and coaches about how best to handle certain situations.

“Sometimes watching a game is equally important for a young player as it is to experience it firsthand from the batter’s box,’’ Farrell said.

Farrell said last week that Moncada would be the team’s third baseman against righthanded starters. Now the Sox seem to be abandoning that after seeing in person how overmatched he was by breaking pitches.

“When you look at where we are and what we’re going to be fighting for every night, there’s importance to every spot in the lineup and every position on the field,’’ Farrell said.

“I’m not saying we’re running away from Yoan. But we also understand that we’ve put in 138 games to put us to this point. We’re going to put the best team on the field to finish this out.’’

Shaw, who hit a two-run homer in the second inning of Wednesday night and finished 2 for 3 with three RBIs, has a .921 OPS against Toronto this season and for his career has hit .343 with a .938 OPS in 10 games at Rogers Centre.

Surf’s up, Papi

The Padres paid tribute to David Ortiz before the game, presenting him with a custom-painted surfboard showing him at the All-Star Game at Petco Park in July.

Padres announcer Don Orsillo, who called Red Sox games from 2001-15 on NESN, was the master of ceremonies and read a tribute to Ortiz. The two then hugged.

Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman was on hand along with Ortiz’s former Red Sox teammate Mark Loretta, now a special assistant in San Diego’s baseball operations department. Padres CEO Mike Dee, a former Red Sox executive, also participated.

Kopech honored

Salem righthander Michael Kopech was named the Carolina League player of the month for August. He was 4-0 with a 2.73 ERA in six starts and struck out 50 over 29⅔ innings. Kopech started Wednesday’s playoff game against Myrtle Beach and allowed six runs on five hits and two walks before he was taken out of the game in the third inning . . . The Padres called up righthander Jake Smith from Double A San Antonio before the game. The Red Sox had 34 players on their roster, the Padres 29.

Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @peteabe.