Tim Wakefield gave the Red Sox the big lift they needed after two demoralizing losses to Tampa Bay. Cleveland’s Cliff Lee got plenty of offensive support in picking up win No. 22.
Wakefield bounced back from a poor outing with eight shutout innings, and Boston picked up a half-game on Tampa Bay with a 7-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
Lee won his 11th straight decision and moved a remarkable 20 games over .500, leading the Indians past the Kansas City Royals 12-5.
On a day when three American League games were postponed because of rain, including the Rays’ contest in New York, the Red Sox climbed within two games of first-place Tampa Bay.
The Red Sox will play two against the Blue Jays on Saturday to make up for an Aug. 15 rainout.
“We’ve got a lot of baseball tomorrow,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona, whose team took a six-game lead in the AL wild-card race over Minnesota. “It worked out well.”
The Red Sox will hardly be alone; five AL teams will host doubleheaders.
majors for the first time since Aug. 4, 1974, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
In other AL games on Friday night, it was: Cleveland 12, Kansas City 5; Texas 7, Oakland 0; and Los Angeles 5, Seattle 3.
At Cleveland, Lee (22-2) allowed four earned runs in 8 1-3 innings to win his eighth straight start. He’s unbeaten in 12 starts since July 11.
Lee is 5-0 in five outings against Kansas City, which was also Lee’s opponent for wins No. 4, 8, 18 and 21. Luckily, the Royals won’t have to face the left-hander again until next season.
“I’m tired of that guy,” Royals center fielder David DeJesus said with a laugh.
It’s almost unthinkable to remember that Lee, who was demoted to the minor leagues last season and was left off Cleveland’s 2007 postseason roster, had to win a spot as the Indians’ fifth starter during spring training.
Lee is the first pitcher to have 20 more wins than losses since Oakland’s Bob Welch in 1990. Welch went 27-6 and won the AL Cy Young Award that season, and Lee, who is scheduled to make three more starts, appears to be on his way to giving Cleveland its second straight award winner following CC Sabathia.
Lee’s season is the best Indians manager Eric Wedge has ever seen.
“I know there have been some tremendous pitching seasons by starting pitchers over the years,” Wedge said. “But this is without a doubt nothing like I’ve ever seen.”
akefield gave up just three hits and retired his last 13 batters before Manny Delcarmen got the last three outs. Six days earlier, the 42-year-old knuckleballer lasted just 1 2-3 innings against Texas.
“Getting through eight was a huge swing from last time,” Wakefield said. “It’s always nice to go out in the ninth and try, but I thought the smart thing was to stop it there. … Shutouts are nice, but the most important thing is to win the game.”
Kevin Cash hit a three-run homer, and David Ortiz and Jed Lowrie each drove in a pair of runs for Boston. The Red Sox had lost their previous two games on the Rays’ last at-bat to miss a chance to take the division lead.
Rain threatened the Red Sox and Blue Jays, but they were able to finish up despite a 41-minute delay at the start and a drizzle through much of the game. Toronto lost for just the second time in 13 games, unable to muster anything against Wakefield (9-10), who walked none while striking out four.
“Unfortunately, we’ve put ourselves in must-win situations for about the last month,” said Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen, who had two errors. “We’ve responded, played well but ran into Wakefield tonight. He pitched well and they got the first game. Come out tomorrow and hopefully take two.”
Angels 5, Mariners 3
le.
Napoli homered off Miguel Batista (1-7), who had walked Robb Quinlan with two outs. Napoli drove a 3-1 pitch deep over the fence in left field for his 16th homer and fourth RBI of the game.
Jose Arredondo (8-2) pitched a perfect ninth for Los Angeles.
Although they wrapped up the AL West on Wednesday, the Angels still want to secure home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. Their 90-57 record is baseball’s best.
Rangers 7, Athletics 0
At Oakland, Calif., Matt Harrison pitched a five-hitter for his first career shutout and complete game and Texas beat Oakland.
Hank Blalock hit a home run for third consecutive game and Taylor Teagarden also homered for the Rangers, who won their second straight. Texas moved 5 1/2 games ahead of the A’s in its bid to finish second in the AL West.
Harrison (8-3) allowed four hits in the first five innings, retiring 14 of the last 16 batters he faced.
Greg Smith (7-15), coming off one of his best efforts of the season, gave up six runs on seven hits over 5 2-3 innings.
Add A Comment