G13: Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 1

Tomo Ohka held the Red Sox hitless for 4.2 innings (bats confiscated at the border?). Then a trio of solo home runs: Lowell in the 5th, Mirabelli in the 6th and Ortiz in the 7th. Mirabelli (or whoever has kidnapped him and is wearing his uniform) added an RBI single after hits from Drew and Lowell. Belly's slugging .833! (Box)

Wakefield (7-4-1-3-4, 99) pitched well. Slowest pitch, according to the pitch tracker at Skydome? A 59 mph curve to Thomas (on a 3-0 count) in the 4th. Two batters later, Wake threw Hill a 3-0 fastball that hit 77. Hill fouled it off.

That 4th inning was the Annoying Wild Wakefield spot that often appears during a start. He'll be crusing along, then suddenly lose all ability to throw strikes. You only hope the other team doesn't score a bunch of runs and that Wakefield clicks back into his groove ASAP. With two outs, Wakefield walked three Jays in a row: Thomas (bbbcb), Overbay (bbbb) and Hill (bbbfb). 14 pitches, 12 balls. He then recovered and got Philips swinging (cbcs).

Donnelly zipped through the 8th on nine pitches (F8, P3, K). More nice work from the pen. Snuffer allowed a hit and a walk with one out to tease the home fans before slamming the door.

Overbay:
94 fastball, ball 1
94 fastball, called strike 1
94 fastball, foul strike 2
96 fastball, called strike 3

Hill:
94 fastball, called strike 1
84 slider, ball 1
94 fastball, ball 2
93 fastball, ground single into CF

Zaun:
96 fastball, ball 1
95 fastball, ball 2
94 fastball, called strike 1
94 fastball, ball 3
94 fastball, called strike 2
95 fastball, ball 4

Smith:
95 fastball, swinging strike 1
94 fastball, swinging strike 2
96 fastball, swinging strike 3

Lind:
95 fastball, foul strike 1
96 fastball, swinging strike 2
95 fastball, ball 1
87 splitter, swinging strike 3

At 9:31, we were back in first.

***

Tim Wakefield (1.38, 0.923) / Tomo Ohka (7.84, 1.742), 7 PM

(Numbers are pitcher's ERA and WHIP (walks + hits per inning))

This is Ohka's first appearance against the Red Sox. Ohka's Yokohama Bay Stars contract was purchased by the Red Sox in November 1998, and he made his major league debut against the Marlins on July 19, 1999.

In that debut, Ohka started and pitched only 1+ inning and allowed five runs (two earned). Mike Lowell and Kevin Millar were in the Florida lineup. Our 3-4 punch? Brian Daubach and Mike Stanley. And the fifth and final pitcher in for the Sox that day? Tim Wakefield.

Ohka was part of the mid-2001 trade with the Expos that brought Ugueth Urbina to Boston.