Brother, Can You Spare a Run?

Can’t a knuckleballer catch a break? If his name is Tim Wakefield, apparently not.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays dropped the Sox 5-1 last night, ending Boston’s four-game win streak, not to mention sending them on a nine-game road trip on a sour note. The loss only drops the Sox to 11-5, still good enough for a 1.5-game lead over second-place Baltimore. Its just the situation of the loss that, well, pretty much sucks.

The past few seasons, Wakefield has owned the Rays, going 13-1 in recent decisions, his last loss dating way back to 1999. So when he took the hill in last night’s game, practically everyone was expecting a home sweep of the Rays. They never seemed able to catch up to Wake’s fluttering money pitch, and the record shows that.

But Wake’s hit some lean times so far this season when it comes to run support from his teammates. If you disregard his first start of the season, a 3.2 inning 7-run shellacking at the hands of Texas, Wakefield has posted a 1.56 ERA over this last three starts, including a complete game where he only allowed two earned runs.

Unfortunately, that complete game ended in a loss for Wake, as Boston’s offense was held to five hits and no runs. In fact, in three of Wake’s four starts this season, he’s received a mere one run of offensive support. For a pitcher who normally gets at least five runs per game from his teammates, the recent .33 runs per game must be hard to swallow.

So why did Boston’s offense abandon their pitcher last night? Apparently, Wakefield wasn’t the only one facing a team he’s had great success against.

Scott Kazmir, the Ray’s 22-year-old lefty phenom, has posted a 3-1 record and 2.64 ERA against Boston in his short time in the majors, with those three wins all coming in Fenway. Kazmir seems to have Boston’s number, his only loss to them coming last season after allowing three runs over six innings. It was his offense that abandoned him that day, only getting one run for his efforts.

But not last night. Wakefield kept the game close, giving up three runs, but that would prove to be enough. Tavarez served up a Landsdown shot to Gomez, his second of the night, on the first pitch he threw, and surrendered another run off consecutive doubles before heading to the clubhouse for the night.

The Sox now start a nine-game road trip that will take them to Toronto (7-7), Cleveland (9-7) and Tampa Bay (8-8). The Sox return to Fenway on Monday, May 1st, for a quick two-game series against …

The Yankees.

I have to throw a quick shout-out to 48-year-old Julio Franco, who became the oldest player in MLB history to hit a home run. His two-run shot in the 8th helped lift the Mets past the Padres 7-2. Franco, a 24-year journeyman veteran of the big leagues, is probably best known (at least by me) for his batting stance: he holds his hands high and points the barrel of the bat right at the pitcher. Though never really in my good graces, especially after his years with the Braves, its pretty damn impressive that he’s still around and driving the ball just two years away from the big 5-0. Way to hang, Julio.

Kaz Matsui, Mets second baseman, put up an impressive record last night as well. He became the first player since Ken Griffey Jr. (1997-1999) to hit a home run in his first at-bat of the season three years in a row. And last night, he did it in style: the former Japanese All-Star scampered around the bases for an inside-the-park home run after his drive to right field glanced off the glove of Padre Brian Giles. Giles has a pretty good arm, so you know Matsui was haulin’ ass.