A TEAM "FIT TO BE TIED"
David Wells pitches a 1-hit beauty

June 14, 2005 ... David Wells followed up an eight-inning four-hitter against St. Louis last Wednesday, in which a remarkable 74 of his 94 pitches went for strikes, with another dazzler, a 7-0 combined one-hit shutout of the Cincinnati Reds. Wells allowed the one hit and two walks over seven innings before giving way to Mike Timlin, who worked a perfect eighth, and Keith Foulke, who worked a perfect ninth.

Wells lost his no-hit bid last night with two outs in the sixth when Ryan Freel lined a single to right-center on an 0-and-2 pitch. Wells also hit one batter, Sean Casey, with two outs in the fourth.

Wells received more than enough offensive support from his teammates against right-hander Luke Hudson (1-1). The Sox scored three times in the second inning, on Bill Mueller's bases-loaded single and Johnny Damon's RBI double. They added a pair in the sixth on RBI singles by Kevin Millar and Mueller. And they finished the scoring with two in the seventh, one run coming on Manny Ramirez's 14th homer, a bullet into the Monster Seats.

Though there was concern about Wells early in the season, he has become one of the Sox' most dependable starters at age 42. After making five starts, Wells sprained his right foot April 25 against Baltimore and went on the disabled list. When he came back May 18, he was shellacked by the Oakland A's in a 13-6 loss. But he has gotten progressively better since then

Wells did have a walkless string broken at 31 2/3 innings when he walked Wily Mo Pena (who had struck out five consecutive times) in the seventh inning. That was a sign that Wells was tiring, as his pitch count exceeded 100 for only the second time in his last 11 starts. He walked the next batter, Adam Dunn, on a 3-and-2 pitch. Wells got Felipe Lopez to fly out on the next pitch, his 110th and final one of the night. Wells now has a scoreless streak of 17 straight innings, the longest by a Sox pitcher this season.

In their last three games, Sox starters have a 1.64 ERA. In 22 innings, they've allowed 11 hits, 4 earned runs, and 3 walks with 17 strikeouts. That includes starts by Tim Wakefield, Matt Clement, and Wells.

The Sox were able to be patient at the plate against Hudson. Ramirez seems to have his eye back, as he walked in his first at- bat to start the three-run second. Millar also walked with one out, and after Jason Varitek singled to load the bases, Mueller and Damon unclogged the basepaths. There seems little doubt that Ramirez is out of his slump. Since May 28, when he had four hits against New York, Ramirez is 20 for 63 (.317). He also is up to 50 RBIs. Also getting into the act was John Olerud, who subbed for Millar in the seventh. He stroked an RBI double to the left-field corner to plate the final run.

Johnny Damon had a bruised right heel to add to his list of injuries, but it didn't keep him out of the lineup.

Luis Tiant spent time before the game in the Reds' clubhouse with Don Gullett . The two pitched in the 1975 World Series.