BOSTON -- For the Red Sox behind the plate, the balance of power has begun to shift.

Christian Vazquez caught his second straight game Saturday, the first time this season he’d caught back-to-back games. Vazquez drew the duty behind the plate for knuckleballer Steven Wright a day after catching lefty Drew Pomeranz. Before Saturday, Vazquez hadn’t caught anybody except Pomeranz and fellow lefty Eduardo Rodriguez this seasons. Opening Day starting catcher Sandy Leon had caught every start by Wright, Chris Sale and Rick Porcello.

But Vazquez had two hits Friday night and another hit Saturday. He's hitting .452 with a .485 on-base percentage in 33 plate appearances this season, a start reminiscent of that of Leon after his midseason call-up last year.

Leon, meanwhile, has hit just .180 with a .196 on-base percentage in 51 plate appearances. That comes on the heels of a September in which he hit .213 and an American League Division Series in which he went 1-for-10, albeit with a home run.

"He’s been getting quality stuff thrown at him, a good mix of four-seamers that have been up and away from him somewhat, followed by a good-depth breaking ball," Boston manager John Farrell said. "That’s a tough combination to address for anybody. He’s had his challenges with that pitch sequence against him."

Even worse for the switch-hitting Leon is a left-right split that sees him hitting .094 against righties and .333 against lefties. Chicago started righty John Lackey on Saturday and is scheduled to start righty Kyle Hendricks on Sunday.

Perhaps the final nail in the coffin for Leon was a run that has seen each of the last five opposing base-stealers against him to be successful. He was charged with a pivotal passed ball that allowed the New York Yankees to score an unearned run against Chris Sale on Thursday.

Vazquez, meanwhile, has thrown out three of five runners to attempt to steal against him -- and he made what Farrell saw as a pivotal block of a Pomeranz curveball in the dirt in Friday’s second inning, keeping the double play in order with one out. Three pitches later, Javier Baez grounded into an inning-ending double play.

"All those nuances, all those smaller attributes that might not show up in the box score, go a long way to making it a consistent and quality defense," Farrell said. "He’s always been a premium defender behind the plate."

How Farrell divides the playing time at catcher going forward remains to be seen. The Red Sox aren't likely to face a lefthanded opposing pitcher until at least next weekend at Minnesota.

Thursday's passed ball notwithstanding, there's almost no chance that Farrell breaks up the Sale-Leon tandem. Sale has had too much success this season for Farrell to do anything that might interfere with the roll he's on.

Vazquez presumably will continue to catch Pomeranz and Rodriguez. It might be that Farrell has Vazquez catch either Wright or Rick Porcello each time through the rotation, with Leon catching Sale and either Wright or Porcello -- especially if a lefty is pitching for the other team. But Farrell went all-in on Leon last season, catching him in four of every five games at times, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he went all-in on Vazquez as well.