G65: Red Sox 6, Reds 1

Bronson Arroyo mixed things up last night, throwing more fastballs in counts he would normally rely on his breaking pitches. He picked off Ryan Freel in the first, he struck out the side in the second inning, and ended his seven innings with eight strikeouts and only six hits and two walks.

In the three-game sweep of the Reds, the Red Sox outscored Cincinnati 23-4 and out-hit them 36-15. The Reds never led in the series. They trailed 5-0 when they scored for the first time on Monday, they were shutout on Tuesday, and they were behind 6-0 when they got their lone run last night.

Arroyo did not allow a fair ball to be hit until the third inning; the first 10 Reds batters managed only two fair balls. The only inning Arroyo allowed more than one baserunner was the seventh. And in that frame, he was helped out by some stupid baserunning by Wily Mo Pena, who tried to stretch a single and was thrown out at second base by Manny Ramirez. It was Manny's 8th assist, which leads the AL (Jacque Jones and Ichiro both have six).

               IP   H   R  BB   K
Sun Wakefield   7   4   1   0   3
Mon Clement     8   6   3   1   9
Tue Wells       7   1   0   2   5
Wed Arroyo      7   6   1   2   8
               29  17   5   5  25  1.55 ERA

David Ortiz is hitting .348 (23-for-66) with 22 RBI in his last 17 games. Ortiz drove in Boston's first run with a line drive into the right field corner. He thought about trying for a triple, but realized "Manny was coming up to hit, it was our first run, so you don't want to take your chances. I don't want to be the last out at third base, so I just shut it down."

Ramirez has caught fire, hitting .349 (22-for-63) in his last 15 games. He had two singles and a walk last night; he also lined out in the eighth on an absolute scorcher to third base. ... Kevin Millar is acting like a major league batter once again, going 15-for-30 with two homers and five doubles in his last nine starts.

Bill Mueller is hitting .316 (31-for-98) in his last 30 games. Mueller, who singled home two runs in the fifth, is now 7-for-11 with the bases loaded this season. ... Edgar Renteria singled, doubled and walked. ... Boston's first four hits last night were doubles.

In light of a couple of stories discussing possible problems with his knee, Keith Foulke says he will now discuss only "cars, motorcycles, the weather, certain politics, that's about it, and music" with the media. ... Last night, after allowing a leadoff single in the ninth -- a broken-bat looper to left -- Foulke struck out the side and looked very sharp.

So, has anyone had a Big Papi sandwich yet?