Sox streak hits five as Wake handcuffs Tigers

Sox 5, Tigers 0
WP: Wakefield (3-1)
LP: Robertson (1-4)
SV: None
HRs: BOS- Ortiz (7), Manny (7); DET- None (obviously)

SUMMARY:
Tim Wakefield had one of the best outings by a Boston starter this year, holding Detroit to 2 hits over 8 innings while retiring 17 straight batters at one point, and Papi & Manny went back-to-back as the Sox won its second straight game in Motown and 5th straight overall.

SUPERSTAR: Wakefield 8IP, 2H, 0ER, 0BB, 6K, 98P
The best part about wake's performance tonight? NO WALKS!

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Gary Sheffield 0-3, 2K
The surly, slumping slugger, who was dropped from 3rd to 6th in the lineup yesterday, fanned twice tonight, dropping his average to a paltry .178. He has 2 homers and 5RBI this season, well worth the $13 mil he's making, dontcha think?

RECAP:
I missed most of this one due to a LL game (my son pitched a complete game in a must-win contest, BTW) and I DVR'd the Celts game instead, thinking it would only be in the third inning by the time I got home anyway.

Who knew Wakefield would decide to mix in a fastball and curve with his slower than snowfall knuckler, the combination of which baffled the Detroit hitters and helped bring this game in at an NL-like 2 hours and 21 minutes.

By the time I got home at around 8:20 the game was in the top of the 6th inning - at 8:20! - and Boston had already jumped out to yet another early (3-0) lead.

That's what I get for assuming again.

From what I gathered though exhaustive research (i.e. GameCast & SportsCenter), the Sox scored all three runs in the 2nd inning off Detroit starter Nate Robertson (6.1IP, 10H, 4ER, 2BB, 4K, 2HR) when the first four batters of the inning reached base, a nice trend the team brought with them from the Rays series.

After Mike Lowell walked to lead off the frame, Kevin Youkilis doubled him over to third, and then JD Drew followed with an RBI single and Kevin Cash (3-4, BI) drove in Youk with another double to make it 2-0 before an out was recorded in the inning.

Julio Lugo killed the big inning with a flyout, and the only other run they managed to score came in on a groundout by Coco Crisp, but as it turned out three runs would be more than enough for Wake.

It's a good thing, too, because Boston blew a few more scoring opportunities after that. The Sox got two men on in both the 3rd and 4th innings and the leadoff man on in the 5th but couldn't get another run home off bend-but-don't-break Robertson, but with Wakefield mowing down the Tigers like a brand new John Deere, it hardly mattered.

Fast forward to the 6th inning, when I came in, and the Sox again got the leadoff man aboard when Cash, who had his second 3-hit game in his last three starts, got a single past Rentanerror at short, but good old Lugo K'd and Coco grounded into a DP to squelch another potential threat.

But in the 7th inning the big boppers struck, and boy was I glad I got home in time to see it live.

First Ortiz, who is finally coming out of his slump despite the gimpy knee, sledgehammered a Robertson pitch high and deep into the right field seats for a titanic blast that pushed Boston's lead to 4-0 and got the Tigers starter removed from the game.

No matter, because Smoky Jim Leyland foolishly brought in a kid named Freddy Dolsi to make his major league debut against Manny Ramirez; I could almost smell how he felt about that decision from my living room.

ManRam promptly welcomed Freddy to the big leagues the only way he knows how, by turning on his first ever MLB pitch and depositing it into the foliage some 420+ feet away from home plate for a demoralizing back-to-back jack that was the final nail in the Tigers coffin on the evening.

It was the 47th time Papi & Manny have homered in the same game.

From there it was merely a formality that Boston would take the win, and not even Wakefield allowing his 2nd hit of the night, a double by Pudge Rodriguez in the 8th, not the return of Tired Arm Timlin to the mound could derail that train.

Indeed the Sox did nail this one down and have now ripped off another five game winning streak, and with two more to play against the clueless Tigers, that number could reach seven by the time they head to Minneapolis to play the surprising Twins this weekend.

I'll be sure to set the DVR for those games.

RECORD: 22-13
AL EAST: Up 3.5 gms
STREAK: W5
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Wed @ DET Buchholz vs. Galarraga