With Tim Wakefield’s shutdown performance opposite Roy Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, the Sox’ staff had extended its best run of the season — impressive once you consider two of the top three in the rotation have not been involved.
Wakefield, filling in while Josh Beckett is on the disabled list with a lower back strain, needed just 103 pitches to throw eight shutout innings in an eventual 8-3 victory, running his string of scoreless innings at Citizens Bank Park to 16 and continuing to motor on in a sometimes awkward role.
"To do what he did today was impressive," catcher Victor Martinez said of his batterymate.
As Red Sox manager Terry Francona has noted when discussing other matters, mulligans are not allowed. But if we toss out one rocky relief outing on a night in Baltimore earlier this month when Camden Yards was playing like a launching pad (the Sox and Orioles combined for nine home runs, three of which came off Wakefield), then everybody’s favorite 43-year-old knuckleballer has been about as good as anyone on the staff.
In his last six games and three starts, excluding that mop-up duty in Baltimore, Wakefield has an ERA of 1.93, walking only four men and allowing just one home run in 28 innings. While his future role with the team remains in limbo (Beckett expects to come off the DL in early June, potentially sending Wakefield back to the bullpen), Wakefield can feel good about rounding out the rotation’s best week yet.
"Very satisfying," Wakefield said of his first win since July 8, 2009. "I felt like I had a pretty good feel of everything today."
The veteran allowed just five hits. Only one runner reached third, and Wakefield kept him right there by striking out slugger Ryan Howard and getting Jayson Werth to ground to third.
"That thing was dancing all over the place today," said second baseman Dustin Pedroia of Wakefield’s ultra-effective knuckleball. "We’ve got some great pitching performances the last few days and that definitely helps."
Wakefield gave credit for the ease with which he threw to the offense, which got to Halladay for a run in the second, two in the fourth and then broke it open in the sixth with four big ones.
But the bats have been going for some time now; the Red Sox offense has plated at least six runs in nine of the last 13 games. The club is three games above .500 for the first time this season because of the turnaround of the starting rotation, which entered the day 13th in the American League in ERA due to its earlier struggles.
In a four-day span this week, Wakefield, Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka combined to allow three runs in 33 innings. John Lackey struggled Friday night in the opener in Philly, but the once-inconsistent rotation — despite being without Beckett — is giving the club what it needs. Finally.
"Everybody’s doing their job," Wakefield said.
Boston leaves Philadelphia having won five of six games for the first time this year and heads to Florida to take on the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, who entered Sunday ranked second in the American League in runs scored.
The Rays outscored the Sox 24-9 in a four-game sweep in Fenway Park last month. But a confident bunch strolled out of Citizens Bank Park on Sunday afternoon, perhaps knowing that the club’s key to success — starting pitching — is finally on board.
"The momentum begins, and hopefully not ends, with your starting pitching," Francona said.
Behind Tim Wakefield’s 190th career win, momentum is on the Red Sox’ side.
