Considering all they have endured this year, reaching the halfway point of the season last night leading their division and only a shade behind last year’s pace has to be considered a significant accomplishment for the Red Sox. The factors working against them have been numerous and would have been insurmountable in many past seasons. Set back at the outset by a physically draining, three-country road trip, the Sox have lost 242 man-games to injury, have dealt with the lengthy losses of David Ortiz and Daisuke Matsuzaka and have seen Curt Schilling forced to abandon his comeback. They have watched Hideki Okajima take an enormous step back from his unexpected dominance last year, witnessed Jonathan Paplebon blow more save opportunities than he did in all of 2007 and spied only a glimpse of Clay Buchholz’ no-hit stuff before dispatching him back to the minors. They have used 38 players, including eight starting pitchers, and been forced to take on a new rivalry with upstart Tampa Bay.
Despite it all, last night’s 5-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks left the Sox (49-32) only one game off the midpoint pace of last year (50-31), when they won the AL East for the first time since 1995 and rolled to their second World Series championship in four years. Tim Wakefield brought the Sox to the midway mark in style by out-pitching Randy Johnson and combining with Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen and Papelbon (23rd save) on a three-hitter to maintain a one-game lead over the Rays.
The 41-year-old Wakefield (5-5) pitched seven innings and showed his younger teammates he is still capable of competing with anyone. Squaring off against 44-year-old Johnson in what the Elias Sports Bureau determined to be the oldest pitching match-up involving the Sox in 43 years (29-year-old Bill Monbouquette vs. 59-year-old Satchel Paige of the Kansas City A’s on Sept. 25, 1965), Wakefield gave up only a second-inning single to Miguel Montero and an inconsequential double to Orlando Hudson in the seventh, while striking out six and walking one. Johnson (4-6) allowed two runs on eight hits while striking out five.
The Bo Sox scored the only run they would need in the second inning, when Mike Lowell led off with a single up the middle, moved to third base on the first of Coco Crisp’s three doubles and scored on Brandon Moss’ ground-out.
Nation Notes: J.D. Drew got the night off against Diamondbacks lefthander Randy Johnson, against whom he was 1 for 8, after his third consecutive hit-less game Tuesday. Drew was 0 for his last 13 after tearing it up earlier in the month. Drew will be back in the lineup tomorrow night in Houston, where he is hitting .280 with four home runs and 10 RBIs in 75 at-bats. A visually disappointed David Ortiz estimated it would be another 2-3 weeks before he returns to the lineup after he took 25 easy swings off a tee yesterday.
