On the way to getting the ball to Papelbon, the Sox, as a team, and Tim Wakefield, in particular, had cruised for most of the evening. Wakefield, with the exception of Michael Young's two-run blast in the third inning, was a model of efficiency in one of his finer starts of the season, maneuvering through seven innings in 95 pitches. The four hits he allowed tied a season low and though he's just 1-1 in his last three starts, his ERA in those games is 2.05. His season ERA, despite his 4-7 record, is just 3.93.
He exited in position for the win, ahead, 3-2, after seven innings, with all of the game's runs coming on two swings: Young's two-run blast and Trot Nixon's three-run homer with two outs in the first. After Young's ball left the park, Wakefield set down 13 Rangers in a row until Brad Wilkerson's double to right with two outs in the seventh.
``Wakefield threw a great game, worked extremely fast, got us in and out of the dugout," Nixon said.
Wakefield was offered the chance to go back out for the eighth, but his back has felt stiff for about a week, and his pitch count was high enough that he didn't want to push it. So, manager Terry Francona, who might as well pull a name out of a hat these days when he needs relief help in the eighth, opted for Craig Hansen, who hadn't pitched in the majors since October and hadn't pitched anywhere since starting for Pawtucket a week ago yesterday. The 22-year-old gave up two ground-ball singles while recording two outs.
With runners on first and third, Francona called upon Papelbon, who jogged in with 20 saves in 20 chances. His reward was Hank Blalock, whom Francona later called ``maybe one of the best fastball hitters in the league." Papelbon knew as much, but ahead, 1 and 2, he went with Doug Mirabelli's preference.
``Dougie called the elevation fastball," Papelbon said. ``I was thinking split-finger there, but I thought maybe Doug had seen something I didn't see. So I went with Doug. I'm not saying Doug made the wrong call, because he didn't. But I definitely feel like it's a learning experience. Tonight I learned something and it didn't cost me a whole lot."
