G19: Red Sox 3, Spiders 1

Red Sox - 000 000 003 - 3  8  0
Spiders - 000 000 001 - 1  4  1

11!
11 consecutive wins!
AH AH AH AH AH AH!

Wakefield (7-1-0-4-5, 112, 1.86 ERA) and Lee (8-5-0-0-5, 106) traded goose eggs for most of the game. And once Lee left the mound, the Red Sox pounced.

Facing Kerry Wood in the ninth, Dustin Pedroia walked and David Ortiz dropped a single into short center. Kevin Youkilis flew out to short right, bring up Jason Bay, who had hit the ball hard in his previous three trips, singling twice.

The pale Canadian took a strike before launching a three-run homer to deep left-center, a no-doubt blast that gave the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. (On Wood's next pitch, Mike Lowell tripled -- yes, tripled -- as Grady Sizemore dove to catch his sinking liner, only to have it bounce over him and roll to deep center.)

Wakefield allowed only one hit -- a two-out single in the first inning to Victor Martinez. He walked and hit a batter with two outs in the fourth and walked two in the sixth, but worked out of trouble each time. In the sixth, he needed a running catch from Jacoby Ellsbury in right-center to preserve his shutout bid.

Manny Delcarmen pitched a quick and perfect eighth before turning the game over to Jonathan Papelbon. He allowed three singles to his first four batters -- and he appeared to receive a gift strike three call on the one batter he retired -- giving Cleveland one run and bringing the potential winning run to the plate. But Kelly Shoppach chased a slider in the dirt for the second out, and he got pinch-hitter Ben Francisco to pop to first to end the game.

It's the longest Red Sox winning streak since June 16-29, 2006, when the team won 12.

The Royals beat the Blue Jays 7-1, allowing the Red Sox to creep into first place for the first time this season.

Red Sox     13   6   .684   ---
Blue Jays   14   7   .667   ---

The Yankees lost to the Tigers 4-2, though CC Sabathia threw a complete game and lowered his ERA to 4.73. New York is 9-10, 4 GB.

***

Tim Wakefield (2.45, 208 ERA+) / Cliff Lee (5.25, 94 ERA+)

The F Train rolls on to Cleveland, where the Red Sox begin a three-game series against the Spiders (7-12). Having finished a three-game sweep of the Yankees and now riding a 10-game winning streak, Boston sends its ace to the hill tonight.

J.D. Drew is not in the lineup after a tight left quad forced him out of Sunday's game after seven innings. Gumball Bailey gets the nod in right field against lefty Lee. Julio Lugo will play in this series, but he's not starting tonight.

The Red Sox's bullpen has allowed just five runs over the past 41 innings. (1.10 ERA).

Lee is making his fifth start of the month. After a disastrous Opening Day outing, he has posted a 3.32 ERA in the three starts since, though he has allowed 32 baserunners in 19 innings. His season WHIP is 1.750.

Top hitters for Cleveland:

Victor Martinez     .397/.448/.654/1.102
Travis Hafner       .293/.388/.586/ .974
Shin-Soo Choo       .286/.418/.524/ .942
Asdrubal Cabrera    .339/.456/.482/ .938