G74: Red Sox 1, Atlanta 0

Red Sox - 000 001 000 - 1  6  0
Atlanta - 000 000 000 - 0  4  0

Wakefield (6-3-0-1-1, 88) did not allow an Atlanta baserunner to reach third base in the mid-90s Georgia heat, and pocketed his 174th victory as a Red Sock.

After Manny Delcarmen pitched a perfect seventh and got the first out in the eighth, Justin Masterson walked pinch-hitter Matt Diaz. The Big Donkey then wild pitched him to second. A grounder to first put Diaz at third, but Masterson retired Martin Prado on a harmless fly to right.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Brian McCann cracked a deep fly ball off Jonathan Papelbon to right-center. Both Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew called for it near the warning track. Drew gloved the ball and the two fielders collided, but because both of them had nearly come to a stop, there was little nothing more than a chest bump. Garret Anderson followed with a double to left-center on an 0-2 pitch. Bot got Casey Kotchman to ground to second (he directed FY where to throw, a la Sexy Lips) to end the game.

Mark Kotsay drove in the game's only run, with an opposite field single to left. Kevin Youkilis had walked with two outs and David Ortiz followed with a walk of his own. Both passes had Atlanta manager Bobby Cox muttering to himself in the home dugout. Several close calls during both at-bats and the umpires determined that each batter had checked his swing on ball four. Kotsay then knocked Vazquez's 2-2 pitch into left.

Youkilis also singled in the first and tripled in the eighth (capping an 11-pitch AB). Ortiz singled and walked twice. Wakefield lined a single to center in the third.

***

Tim Wakefield (4.47, 104 ERA+) / Javier Vazquez (3.18, 133 ERA+)

This will be Wakefield's 382nd start for the Red Sox, tying Roger Clemens for the most starts in club history.

There is also this:

Career Pitching Wins
  
Cy Young         192
Roger Clemens    192
Tim Wakefield    173

20 wins to go!

***

June 27 in Baseball History:

1911 - In the 7th inning at Huntington Avenue Grounds, the A's Stuffy McInnis steps into the batter's box to lead off and hits Ed Karger's warm-up pitch for an inside-the-park home run while the Red Sox are still taking their positions. Boston manager Patsy Donovan protests to umpire Ben Egan, but Egan rejects the protest on the basis of AL president Ban Johnson's new rule prohibiting warm-up pitches. Johnson's time-saving rule, which declares that pitchers must throw as soon as the batter is in the box, is soon withdrawn.

There have always been complaints that baseball games drag on for too long.

Happy 66th birthday, Rico Petrocelli!

Today is also the sixth anniversary of Boston's 25-8 win over the Marlins.