G104: White Sox 3, Red Sox 1

Red Sox   - 001 000 000 - 1  3  0
White Sox - 000 001 20x - 3  3  0

Tim Wakefield (7-3-3-2-5, 101) did not get his 200th career win and Dustin Pedroia (0-for-4) did not extend his hitting streak to 26 games.

The Red Sox were held to only three hits and had only two runners past second base, one of whom was Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who homered in the third.

Pedroia grounded out to third in both the first and fourth innings. He grounded into a 6-4 fielder's choice in the sixth, and led off the ninth with a first-pitch fly-out to center fielder Alejandro De Aza in right-center.

After Salty's dong to start the third, Drew Sutton singled, but he was erased when Marco Scutaro grounded into a double play. Scutaro had the Sox's third hit of the night when he singled in the sixth with one out. Jacoby Ellsbury walked and was forced at second by FY. David Ortiz walked, loading the bases. Kevin Youkilis, trying to increase Boston's 1-0 lead, fell behind 0-2, worked the count back to 2-2 and took a pitch well off the outside corner for ball 3. However, plate umpire Rob Drake called it strike 3, ending the inning. Those three runners were the only men the Red Sox left on base tonight.

The pitch (the 5th of the PA) was not a strike.

The White Sox tied the game in their half of the inning on only five pitches. Juan Pierre bunted for a hit, was sacrificed to second, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly to left. In the seventh, A.J. Pierzynski broke the tie with hit a two-run homer.

After Youkilis was called out on strikes to end the sixth, the Red Sox went in order in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings.

Tim Wakefield / Gavin Floyd

Wakefield takes the hill in Chicago, hoping to become the 111th pitcher in baseball history to reach the 200-win mark. Wakefield has 185 wins for the Red Sox, and needs eight more to set a new franchise record.

Wakefield holds a number of Red Sox franchise records: innings pitched, games started, batters faced, hits allowed, walks allowed, home runs allowed, earned runs allowed, losses, wild pitches, and batters hit by pitch. Most of those are not accomplishments you would highlight on your resume, but that the downside of longevity.

Dustin Pedroia extended his hitting streak to 25 games last night with an eighth-inning home run. It was the 7th time during the streak (since June 29) Pedroia had his first hit of the game in the seventh inning or later. The streak-extending hits have come in his first plate appearance 9 times (including four of the last seven games), in his second PA 7 times, his third PA once, and his fourth PA 8 times. ... Just for fun: if Pedroia keeps his streak alive and plays in every game, he would break Joe DiMaggio's record of 56 games on August 31 (against the Yankees!).

AL East: Orioles/Yankees at 7 PM.