Wakefield goes deep this time

When it comes to giving up long balls, Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield has a short memory. Just three weeks after he surrendered a club-record six home runs to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park, tying the post-1900 major league record, the wily knuckleballer delivered one of his best starts of the season in the rematch. Striking out a season-high seven, Wakefield kept the ball in the park -- with one exception -- and the Tigers in check, pitching eight innings of three-hit ball to propel Boston to a 6-1 win and a four-game sweep of Detroit yesterday at Fenway Park.

"It never crossed my mind," said Wakefield of the historic home run display the Tigers put on the last time he took the mound against them. "It's just one of those things that happened. We won [that] game, anyway, so you try to erase that. I've always used the philosophy that you're only as good as your next start. So I had to go out there and help us win."

Wakefield (11-7), who registered his third straight win and sixth in seven starts, made only one costly mistake, a solo home run in the fifth by outfielder Craig Monroe that landed in the first row of the Monster seats. But he made sure there was no reprisal of the long-ball pyrotechnics that plagued him in the Sox' 11-9 victory over Detroit earlier in the month. He allowed only two Tigers to reach base the rest of way and rationed Detroit to one hit after the Sox struck for four runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Wakefield said he had better command of his signature pitch than he did the last time he faced Detroit, and catcher Doug Mirabelli said the knuckleballer did a better job of keeping the Tigers off balance yesterday, mixing in his fastball and breaking ball with success.

But the key, as usual, was a devastating floater that flustered Detroit all day.

"Well, he definitely had a better knuckleball today," said Mirabelli. "His ball was moving a lot more today and he was throwing a lot more strikes [73 of Wakefield's 100 pitches were for strikes]. He kept these guys off balance by throwing his fastball for strikes and his breaking ball for strikes. They couldn't just sit on one pitch, and when they did, they got a different pitch, and he threw it for strikes. That's huge. If a pitcher has two or three pitches he can throw for strikes, that makes it tough."

While Wakefield made it tough on Detroit batters, he made it easy on his sweltering infielders and outfielders. With the game-time temperature 87 degrees and a stifling wave of humidity blanketing Fenway Park, Wakefield's ability to quickly mow down the visitors was much appreciated.

"It's unbelievable when you have somebody pitching that well," said Mark Bellhorn, one of the day's hitting heroes with a two-run homer in the seventh. Everything is kind of in rhythm. You're working fast and that's what you want to do on days like today when it is so hot."

With key series with fellow wild-card contenders Anaheim and Texas on tap, manager Terry Francona is hoping Wakefield can stay hot and go on one of his patented winning streaks.

"Confidence plays a big factor," said Francona. "I think when he was struggling earlier, he was searching a little bit, but it's just like a hitter -- a ball falls in and you feel good about yourself and you loosen up. You throw the way you can or hit the way you can . . . If he goes on one of those runs, I can't think of a better time."