Wakefield satisfied manager Terry Francona's primary goal for the evening -- he did not come off the mound clutching his side. But neither was Wakefield inclined to crack a smile, not after a 4-0 loss to a team, the Baltimore Orioles, that had lost 17 of its previous 18 meetings with the Sox dating to last season.
``At this point, it's pretty much over with," Wakefield said. ``We're not mathematically eliminated yet, but our chances of getting into the postseason are paper thin.
``From my standpoint, I've played this game almost 15 years and I've never been injured. I'm trying to get back, I'm seeing what's going on, but my body just wouldn't let me do it. It was very frustrating for me to not be able to contribute somehow to try to stop the bleeding.
``I got hurt, 'Tek [Jason Varitek] got hurt, Trot [Nixon] got hurt, Manny [Ramírez] is hurt. It's unbelievable. I've never been a part of a team going through this many injuries. Mike Lowell's playing; I'm sure his body is killing him. It's part of it. You've got to accept it for what it is, you have to move on. We have 17 games left, we have to continue to play. We can't give up right now."
Wakefield went five innings last night, and only the first went smoothly, when he retired Brian Roberts and Melvin Mora on fly balls and struck out rookie Nick Markakis.
The next inning, the Orioles scored twice, on the strength of three singles, and two throwing errors by the majors' best fielding team, one by shortstop Alex Gonzalez as he attempted to complete a double play, the other by catcher Doug Mirabelli, who thought he could catch Kevin Millar straying off third base.
The Orioles had three hits in the third and two hits and a walk in the fourth but did not score. But in the fifth, Millar, who morphs into Jimmie Foxx when he faces Wakefield, hit a two-run home run off his former teammate, giving the Orioles a 4-0 lead.
