Sox stave off Stanks with shutout of Rays

Sox 3, Tampa Bay 0
WP: Wakefield (14-10)
LP: Shields (9-8)
SV: Papelbon (28)
HRs: None

SUMMARY
Tim Wakefield took a no-hitter into the 7th inning and ended up allowing just two hits, continuing his mastery of the D-Rays while keeping his streak of recording a decision in every start this year intact.

#1 STUNNER Wake 8IP, 2H, 2BB, 6K
Just when the Sox desperately needed a win the perfect combination of Wakefield throwing against the Rays fell into their laps; he's now 18-2 in his career against Tampa Bay, including 3-0 this season.

PAN's FAUN Rays pen 2IP, 3H, 2ER, 3BB, 2K
After starter James Shields held Boston to one run on five hits through six innings, Gary Glover and Grant Balfour each allowed a run in the 7th & 8th respectively to give Wake and the Sox breathing room.

RECAP
I take back what I said earlier.

You know, the part about not settling for scores less than 10-1 for any games in this series, and about not wanting to see the bullpen during the next three games, either.

Funny what a near no-no will do for one's opinions.

Of all the pitcher's to get the Sox out of this funk, who woulda thunk it would be the old man, the wily vet, the soft-tossing knuckleballer who would get the minds of RSN off the sneaking Stanks and back on the play on the field?

Well, I'm sure the Devil Rays had a feeling.

Tim Wakefield continued two incredible streaks tonight by once again defeating the Devil Rays and registering his 24th decision in 24 starts this season, and the fact that he did it in grand style just made the victory all the more sweeter.

Wake's knuckler was working to perfection all evening long and when the Sox scored a run in the first it turned out to be the only run he would need on the night.

Which was a good thing, because Tampa Bay starter James Shields (6IP, 5H, 1ER, 0BB, 5K) was nearly as good as Wake, shutting down the sputtering Sox lineup for six innings before giving way to the shaky Rays bullpen.

The game started off looking like it would be a slugfest, at least for the Sox, when Julio Lugo (3-4, R, BI) lined a shot off Shields' shoulder for a leadoff single, then came around to score one out later on a mammoth double off the center field wall by David Ortiz.

But in typical Sox form of late Boston wouldn't plate another run for quite a while despite numerous baserunners and ample opportunities to do so.

The Sox had men on in the second (Cora single), third (Lugo double) and fourth (Lowell single) innings, yet couldn't crack Shields again.

The worst of those missed opps came after Lugo laced a Monster double to leadoff the third. That effort was wasted when Youk hit a soft popup to second base and Papi and Manny both struck out swinging to leave Lugo stranded.

Wakefield faced his only threat of the game in the 7th when white-hot Carl Crawford led off the frame with a solid single to right, bringing the crowd to its feet in appreciation of the old man's effort. C.C. then stole second and went to third on a fly out, but Wake got Delmon Young to strike out to preserve the shutout.

Thankfully by the end of the 6th inning Shields was already at 106 pitches, so mild mannered manager Joe Maddon decided to dip into his horrible but improving pen to try and keep the score at 1-0.

That plan worked about as well as Bush's plan to liberate Iraq.

Gary Glover, one of the few Rays relievers with an ERA under 6.00, entered in the 7th and got two quick outs, then promptly lost all ability to find the plate and walked Mirabelli and Hinske on 9 pitches.

Luckily for us he found the strike zone just in time to give up a solid single up the middle to Lugo that scored Mirabelli all the way from second (hey, he's slow), and suddenly that slim 1-run lead seemed a quite a bit fatter.

The 8th inning brought more of the same: Maddon called on Grant Balfour (is that an unfortunate name for a Rays reliever or what?), and the former Brewer allowed a single to Manny, walked J.D. Drew and then surrendered an RBI single to Mike Lowell (2-4, RBI) to push Boston's lead to a near-impenetrable 3-zip.

Although he must have been tempted to leave Wake in to complete his masterpiece, with memories of Saturday's 9th inning near-meltdown by Josh Beckett fresh in his mind Tito called upon fresh as a daisy closer Jonathan Papelbon to nail this one down.

And Paps did just that, sandwiching a walk to B.J. Upton around strikeouts of Aki Iwamura and Crawford and getting Carlos Pena to ground out to end the game, and for one night the fans could forget about the recent struggles and resurgent Stanks and enjoy a well-played game in the cozy confines of Fenway.

Did I mention the Stanks beat Baltimore on an infield single by Jeter in the 9th?

Never mind.

NOTES:
-Unbelievable: Wake became the first pitcher to record a decision in each of his first 24 starts since 1939

-Leaping Lugo: since the break the once struggling shortstop is batting a robust .339 (41-121) and has raised his average from .197 to .238

-Coco got the night off with what's being called a virus, but is expected to return tomorrow night. Dustin Pedroia also got the game off in favor of the seldom-seen Alex Cora, who went 1-4

-With Coco out Drew took center field again while Eric Hinske manned right field and made two nice running catches in the first three innings

-Although Drew followed his consecutive 3-hit games with an 0-3 he made some nice catches in center, and say what you will about his hitting woes but this guy has played some stellar 'D'

-The only other hit for the Rays was a one out single by Jonny Gomes in the 8th

-Perfect 10: the shutout was the 10th for Boston this season, tying Seattle for most in the majors

-Power outage: Boston failed to homer for the 4th straight game

-Papi power: after being brushed back in the 6th and falling to the ground, Ortiz pumped a couple of impromptu pushups before rising, much to the delight of the Faithful

QUOTES:
-"He was not only throwing it for strikes, but spots you can't hit it. His ball was dropping like 2-3 feet."-Crawford on the knuckler

-"This guy has been a blessing for us." --Tito on Wake

-"I think it was very important for us to get back at home and get some momentum going our way."--Wake on the win