Wakefield shuts down Tigers with help from Big Papi and Manny

After 10 walks from Boston Red Sox pitching on Monday night - eight of which were attributed to Daisuke Matsuzaka - there was a possibility that total could be matched this evening. After all, Tim Wakefield was on the mound, and when he does not have command of the knuckler, it is not a pretty sight. Wakefield turned in the anti-Matsuzaka performance - blanking the Detroit Tigers through eight innings, holding them to two hits and walking no batters. The result was another quality start by the Red Sox, and a 5-0 victory, Boston's fifth in a row and seventh in eight games.

Wakefield is usually the victim of little run support, but he received enough tonight. The Red Sox scored all the runs they needed in the second against Detroit starter Nate Robertson. J.D. Drew's RBI single, Kevin Cash's run-scoring double and Coco Crisp's RBI ground out gave Boston a 3-0 lead.

While Wakefield continued to baffle the Tigers, Boston added to its lead in the seventh. David Ortiz belted his seventh home run, a solo shot off Robertson with one out. The drive chased Robertson and led to Freddy Dolsi's Major League debut. His first pitch was ripped over the center field fence by Manny Ramirez for the future Hall of Famer's 497th home run. Mike Timlin preserved the 5-0 victory with a scoreless ninth inning.

Now 22-13, the Red Sox gained further separation in the American League East standings over Toronto (which lost to Tampa Bay) and the New York Yankees (which fell to Cleveland thanks to David Delluci's three-run home run off Joba Chamberlain in the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium). The Blue Jays are now 5.5 games behind the pack and the Yankees dipped to 4.5 games behind the Red Sox and in a tie with the Baltimore Orioles. The Rays remain 3.5 out of first place.

Notes and observations

• Sean Casey and Alex Cora are about to embark on rehabilitation stints at Triple-A Pawtucket. Cora will start his assignment tomorrow and could be activated from the disabled list as soon as Saturday while Casey will don a Paw Sox uniform starting Thursday and could return from the DL on Sunday. The Red Sox will evaluate each player's progress before determining the next move, but chances are Casey and Cora will return to the parent team by early next week. Jed Lowrie has filled in admirably for Cora and has shown the Red Sox that he is Major League ready - either as a utility infielder or as next year's starting shortstop. Since Brandon Moss is now on the DL while recovering from his emergency appendectomy, the Red Sox can especially use backup first baseman Casey, who was hitting .346 when he suffered his strained hip flexor. Casey and Cora are key reasons why the Boston bench is so productive, so it will help the Red Sox to have them back on the active roster.
• Now that Tim Wakefield's latest turn in the rotation is complete, can the Red Sox afford to not have Kevin Cash's bat in the lineup? That is, of course, an attempt at humor. Cash is a career .167 hitter in the big leagues, and Jason Varitek has been solid at the plate so far. Yet so has Cash. The backup catcher was 3-for-4  with an RBI double tonight  and overall is hitting .361 (13-for-36). His offensive production has been a pleasant surprise and a vast improvement over Doug Mirabelli's light hitting over the last two seasons. Cash's main job is to catch Wakefield's knuckler, but his performance at the plate will make Terry Francona more comfortable giving Varitek a day off even when Wakefield is not starting.
• Manny Ramirez had been slumping lately, but he was 3-for-5 with two singles and the monstrous home run tonight. David Ortiz continued to swing a hot bat as well, and Kevin Youkilis lined two more doubles and now has 11 on the season. If Mike Lowell catches fire, then the Red Sox will have the best heart of the order in baseball.
• Not too long ago, Boston's team ERA was one of the worst in the Major Leagues. Now, thanks to a string of exceptional starting pitching that Tim Wakefield maintained tonight, the Red Sox have a 3.98 ERA, good for 12th overall and fifth in the American League. Of course, walks still remain this staff's Achilles heel. Boston pitchers have issued a Major League worst 147 free passes. Red Sox pitchers have allowed more walks than earned runs (137).
• At the plate, Boston is tied with Atlanta for the Major League lead in batting average at .287. The Red Sox lead the American League in on-based percentage (and are third overall) at .361 and lead the Major Leagues in total bases (525). This is impressive considering the offensive slump the team was mired in before the Tampa Bay series last weekend.