Happy B-Day, Tim: Wake joins AL wins leaders

Sox 7, Baltimore 3
WP: Wakefield (13-9)
LP: R. Bell (3-2)
HRs: BOS-Hinske (5), Mirabelli (4)

SUMMARY
In a game that featured to a number of wacky plays Tim Wakefield earned his 13th victory on his 41st birthday, Doug Mirabelli nearly blew the game then won it, and Eric Gange made his Sox debut as Boston took 2-of-3 from the Birds.

#1 STUNNER Belli 3-3, 2R, 2BI, BB, HR
His base running gaffe nearly doomed the Sox in the sixth, but the veteran catcher made up for it with an RBI single in the seventh that gave him his first 3-hit game in nearly three years.

PAN's FAUN Rob Bell 2/3IP, 4H, 4ER, BB
What do you expect from a former Devil Ray castoff with a career ERA of 5.61? The 30-year-old righty was plain awful in the 7th, turning a tie game into a Red Sox rout.

RECAP
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Timmy, happy birthday to you."

I'm sure that's the tune that Tim Wakefield's teammates serenaded him with in the locker room following this game, along with the mandatory beer shower of course.

On the day the knuckleballer turned a robust 41 years old the 15-year vet showed the rest of the league that he's still got what it takes to be a top pitcher in the major leagues, and he's got the record to prove it.

By tossing seven solid innings and lasting just long enough to benefit from another Sox uprising, Wake (7IP, 6H, 3ER, BB, 5K) joined teammate Josh Beckett as well as four other hurlers atop the AL leader board in wins, one behind ML leader Carlos Zambrano's 14.

Not bad for a guy who broke into the league when fellow starter John Lester was 8 years old.

But for a while it looked as if Wake would not join the 13-win club, and he had no one to blame but himself for the missed opportunity.

Well himself and his personal caddy, Doug Mirabelli.

After blowing a bases loaded situation in the second, the Sox jumped out to a lead in the third courtesy of a couple of strange plays by left fielder Jay Payton.

The disgruntled former Sox sub misplayed a high fly from David Ortiz (1-5, R) that landed on the warning track in front of the Monster for a sun-aided double, and three pitches later Manny lined a Jeremy Guthrie offering directly over Payton's head for a sharp single that scored Papi and put the Sox on the board first for the first time in the series.

Boston then put on a nice little power display in the 4th, and the wattage came from two unlikely sources.

Eric Hinske, starting in place of J.D. Drew who was still dealing with his son's illness, launched a 2-0 pitch from Guthrie (5.1IP, 9H, 3ER, 4BB, 3K) over the bullpens and into the bleachers for a quick 2-0 lead, then on the very next pitch Belli blasted a bomb into the first row of the Monster seats to give his buddy Wake a comfy 3-0 advantage.

But faster than you can say "where's my Geritol?" Wake blew the early b-day present, surrendering a three-spot to the Os in the 5th on a triple, a sac fly, two singles and a double and all of a sudden the game was back to square one.

Showing his age, I guess you could say.

Boston wasted a leadoff single by Manny (2-5, BI) in the bottom of the inning when Lowell grounded into a double play, then they really screwed the pooch when Belli had a major brain fart in the last half of the sixth.

The catcher culminated a 7-pitch at bat with a solid single to center to lead off the frame, then advanced to second on a sac bunt by Alex Cora. After Pedroia (2-3, 2BI, 2BB) walked on four pitches, Youk lofted a lazy fly ball to right that tricked Nick Markakis, who dropped the popup for an error that loaded the bases with one out.

Guthrie was replaced by Jamie Walker, and when he allowed a DEEP drive to center field by Big Papi, it looked like the Sox would regain the lead and hand the game over to its awesome bully.

Except Belli messed up the timing of his tag, and by the time he went back and re-touched third, the Orioles had enough time to get the ball in to infield and Doug was gunned down by a good 10 feet for a head-scratching inning ending double play.

Needless to say Papi wasn't happy, and neither was anyone watching the game who had no idea how a guy could get thrown out on a ball that traveled nearly 400 feet.

Luckily for Mirabelli, Wake and all of RSN, he would get a chance to redeem himself in the next inning.

Enter Rob Bell.

Bell got Manny to ground out to begin the 7th, then Lowell (1-4) followed with a single off the Wall, and after Coco forced Mike at second base and stole second, Bell walked Hinske to set up a double play with crappy feet coming to the plate.

After his horrendous miscue the inning before, Belli wasn't about to blow his best buddy's birthday, and he took the first pitch he saw from Bell and dropped it into center to score Coco and atone for his blunder and put the Sox back on top, 4-3.

Cora and Pedroia tacked on RBI hits after that, and all that was left was for the newest member of the Sox pen to make his Red Sox debut.

Hideki Okajima pitched a 1-2-DP 8th, and then it was time for one of the best closers in the history of the game to take the mound for the first time in a Boston uni.

After fanning Millar & Tejada to start the 9th, things didn't exactly follow the Disney script for Gagne when Lowell lost a wind-blown popup by Audrey Huff for a double and Payton followed with an RBI single to right, but he shrugged it off and retired Jay Gibbons on a lazy fly to left, and the birthday boy got his present, hand delivered by his batterymate.

The rate he's going, we might see Wake pitching when he's 50.

NOTES

• Doug's day: this was Mirabelli's first three hit game since Aug. 25th, 2004
• Decision '07: Wake extended his incredible streak to 22 consecutive games with a decision
• Drew didn't make it for the start of the game, but he did pinch run for Hinske in the seventh and stayed in the game
• The Sox celebrated the career of legendary second baseman Bobby Doer before the game
• Markakis' error was his first this season and first in 148 games dating back to last Aug 15th
• The sun wreaked havoc on numerous plays in the outfield, but didn't affect Coco, who made a spectacular leaping catch against the wall to rob Gibbons of extra bases in the 7th
• Cora started in place of Lugo sporting a freshly shaved dome
• Big Hit Hinske strikes again: of Hinske's 24 hits this season, 14 have been for extra bases-- 6 doubles, 3 triples and 5 homers
• 7th heaven: Boston scored four runs in the seventh for the second consecutive game

QUOTES

"To go back and tag and try to come home like that was the second mistake and it's embarrassing."--Mirabelli

"It was awesome. I was a little nervous. But the adrenaline kicked in and the fans really got me going."--Gagne. Welcome to Beantown.

RECORD: 66-42
AL EAST: Up 8 on NYY
STREAK: W-2
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Fri @ SEA, 10EST