G103: Red Sox 7, Devil Rays 1

Hammel retired the first 11 Boston batters before David Ortiz singled, and through 5.1 innings, that was his only blemish. But with one out in the 6th, he walked Alex Cora and Julio Lugo and with his pitch count two shy of his limit of 90, he was pulled.

It was a much-needed break for the Sox. Kevin Youkilis hit Juan Salas's 4th pitch for a three-run home run, giving the Red Sox a 3-1 lead. They added four more runs in the 8th: Ortiz walked, Manny Ramirez singled, JD Drew singled (4-1), Coco Crisp doubled (6-1), and Doug Mirabelli singled (7-1).

Wakefield stumbled with two out in the 2nd (allowing two singles, a walk and a run), but finished strong (6-6-1-3-7, 101), giving way to Manny Delcarmen (2-1-0-0-2) and Kyle Snyder (1-0-0-1-0).

***

Tim Wakefield (4.74, 95 ERA+) / Jason Hammel (5.82, 78 ERA+)

RedSox.com:

[RHP] Hammel made a spot start on Saturday against the Yankees and pitched well, allowing two runs in four innings. He would have gone farther, but he had been pitching in relief and was not "stretched out" enough. Hammel possesses a nice variety of pitches ... He is 0-1 with a 10.50 ERA in three appearances against the Red Sox.

Hammel's Game Log v Red Sox:

                   IP   H  R  ER  BB  SO
092606 GS  at Bos   4   9  5   5   2   3
070307 Rel at Bos   1   1  0   0   2   2
070507 Rel at Bos   1   3  2   2   2   0
                    6  13  7   7   6   5

Clearly, the Sox like his "nice variety of pitches".