Red Sox Notebook: Backups Support Wakefield

No Red Sox starter has received less run support this year than knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield, who has been backed by just 4 1/2 runs per contest. That development owes in some part to the pitcher's unique demands, since his starts—in which he is paired with Doug Mirabelli—invariably feature one or more backups in the lineup.

On Thursday, however, Wakefield (13-9) received ample offense in a 7-4 win, almost all of it coming from the part-timers whom one might expect to represent a drop-off in production. The combination of Eric Hinske, Doug Mirabelli and Alex Cora combined to go 5-for-8 while driving in four of the team's seven runs.

Though Mirabelli confessed after the game to embarrassment after he ran into an out on what should have been a sacrifice fly, his gaffe was forgiven during his best offensive game of the year. The backup catcher, who entered Thursday with a puny .183 average, went 3-for-3 with his fourth homer of the year. With his first three-hit game since 2004, Mirabelli pushed his batting average up by 25 points.

Mirabelli and Hinske, rather amazingly, hit back-to-back homers, providing an unexpected jolt from the bottom of the batting order. Cora, meanwhile, delivered an RBI single in going 1-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt.

The threesome of Mirabelli, Hinske and Cora has been lauded throughout this season for their professionalism in dealing with the relatively thankless task of bench roles. On Thursday, at least, they offered more tangible contributions to help sustain the roll of a team that has won 10 of its last 13 games.


RED SOX 7, ORIOLES 4: A Red Sox offense that was sluggish from June through mid-July continued its second-half resurgence. The Red Sox battered Baltimore's pitchers for 13 hits and reached base in 20 of 43 plate appearances, elevating the team's second-half on-base percentage to .368 and on-base plus slugging percentage to .814. After a four-run seventh-inning gave the Sox a 7-3 lead, Hideki Okajima and Eric Gagne (making his Sox debut) navigated the final two frames.


NOTES, QUOTES
—RHP Tim Wakefield maintained his streak of consecutive starts with a decision, notching a win to run his record to 13-9 in 22 starts this year. Wakefield, who now has 150 wins in 13 seasons as a member of the Red Sox, is on pace for a career-high 19 wins in 2007.

—RHPs Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett were flip-flopped in the rotation. Beckett will start Sunday on his normal four days of rest, while Schilling will make his first big-league start in seven weeks when he pitches against the Angels on Monday.

—OF J.D. Drew was out of the starting lineup for the third straight game while attending to his son, who was in the hospital following a surgical procedure. Drew did come into the game as a pinch runner in the seventh inning, and he seems set to accompany the Red Sox on their road trip.

—OF Manny Ramirez drove in a run, in the process passing Hall of Famers Rogers Hornsby and Harmon Killebrew for 32nd on the career RBI list with 1,585. Ramirez has 24 RBIs in 21 games since the All-Star break.

—OF Coco Crisp swiped a season-high two bases, and now has stolen 20 this year. He seems all but certain to break his career high of 22 steals in a season, set in 2006.


BY THE NUMBERS: .677—Red Sox's winning percentage in 62 games with SS Julio Lugo hitting leadoff. In 41 contests with another hitter atop the order, Boston has a .512 mark.


QUOTE TO NOTE: "To come back here and be the best pitcher on the staff, I've got to be able to pitch deep in ballgames. That's what they count on me to do." —RHP Curt Schilling on his rehab from shoulder tendinitis.