TIM WAKEFIELD

A POWERFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
Three home runs back up
Tim Wakefield's strong performance
in Toronto

April 18, 2007 ... Tim Wakefield went seven innings, allowing just a run on four hits, in a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays that continues a run of extraordinary pitching by the Sox. Tonight's game was the eighth straight in which the Sox have limited opponents to three or fewer runs, something the staff hadn't done since 1988, when Sox pitchers went 11 games at that level of stinginess.

Brendan Donnelly, pitched a clean eighth before turning the game over to Jonathan Papelbon, who gave up the first hit he's allowed this season, a single to Aaron Hill, then walked pinch hitter Gregg Zaun to put the tying runs on base, before striking out pinch hitters Jason Smith and Adam Lind for his third save.

Wakefield has allowed three runs in his three starts spanning 20 innings, his earned run average dipping to 1.35. Tonight, he pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, striking out Jason Phillips after issuing three straight two-out walks. By the time the Blue Jays broke through in the seventh on Royce Clayton's two-out double and John McDonald's single, the Sox had four runs, the first three coming on home runs by Mike Lowell (No. 1), Doug Mirabelli (No. 2), and David Ortiz (No. 5).

Blue Jays star Vernon Wells had raved about the Sox' pitching the night before, citing Matsuzaka, Curt Schilling, and Josh Beckett. He grimaced when someone mentioned Wakefield. That was intended as a compliment, of course. But it also underscored a reason Wakefield remains such an important component of the Sox' rotation, because of the different look he brings.

Doug Mirabelli now has homered in each of his last two starts. That's two more home runs than starting catcher Jason Varitek has in his first 33 at-bats. Mirabelli, who came into camp in better shape after his salary was cut nearly in half, said he worked extremely hard in the off-season and in camp on his swing.

The Sox scored all four of their runs off Ohka, who played high school baseball in the same Kyoto prefecture and at the same time as one Sox pitcher, Hideki Okajima, and wore the same number as Matsuzaka (18) when he was with the Red Sox

Ohka allowed just one base runner, Manny Ramirez, with a leadoff walk in the second, until Lowell connected with two outs in the fifth. Mirabelli led off the sixth with his home run, and Ortiz went the opposite way to lead off the seventh. Mirabelli also drove in J.D. Drew with a two-out single in the seventh off Victor Zambrano.

Jon Lester will indeed come to Boston Sunday to pitch a side session after he makes his final appearance Friday for the Single A Greenville (S.C.) Drive. But even though he should be stretched out to at least 85 pitches by that point, the Sox intend to send the 23-year-old lefthander to Triple A Pawtucket for at least one start, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Rochester against the Twins' Triple A affiliate, the Red Wings.  Lester was placed on the disabled list retroactive to March 28 as he recovers from chemotherapy for a form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. For pitchers, rehabilitation assignments cannot last for more than 30 days, so the Sox will have to place Lester on a roster by the end of next week.

So far, this has been one of Manny Ramirez's quieter visits to Toronto. On his first seven trips to Toronto as a member of the Red Sox, which took him through three seasons, Ramirez hit at least one home run in each series, including three on his first visit, when he went 10 for 18. He hit just one home run here in both 2004 and '05, but last season he had four home runs in 22 at-bats, despite not starting in the Sox' final visit to Toronto last September. Ramirez came into this series batting .295 lifetime in Rogers Centre (formerly Sky Dome), with 25 home runs, a number exceeded among Jays opponents only by Alex Rodriguez (30). Ramirez went 0 for 3 with a tonight.

Doug Mirabelli's home run was his fifth in Rogers Centre, more home runs than he has hit in any park outside of Fenway. Opposing batters had been 0 for 10 against Jonathan Papelbon this season until Aaron Hill grounded a single with one out in the ninth. The walk to Gregg Zaun was also the first base on balls issued by the Sox closer. Papelbon, who struck out the side, has now held batters to one hit in 14 trips, with nine whiffs.  Hideki Okajima, who struck out the side Tuesday, is holding opposing batters to an .091 average, posting a 1.35 ERA in his first six appearances.