Wakefield can't catch wind

Terry Francona was hardly in need of a weatherman to know which way the wind was blowing last night. He merely had to step out of the dugout at Fenway Park and glance up toward the flags in center field and above the 600 Club, directly behind home plate.

In meteorological terms, it was a northeast wind at 21 miles per hour. In simple terms, it was straight in and brisk, a combination that would be a pleasant sight on most nights, so far as your pitcher was concerned. But Game 1 of the World Series wasn't a typical night because Francona knew things are different with a knuckleballer on the mound. Asked hours before the game how the wind affected Tim Wakefield, Francona said, "As long as [the wind] is not at his back, that's the one time where [the wind] is a little bit of a disadvantage."

Chalk it up as a disadvantage Wakefield couldn't overcome. The righthander's first start since Oct. 1 and his first Fenway appearance since Sept. 25 was hardly one of his finest efforts.

"I wasn't very good. I lost command of the strike zone and put my team in jeopardy," said Wakefield, who was unable to hold leads of 4-0 and 7-2. He was gone before the Cardinals were retired in the fourth, his 91-pitch night mostly a study in how a stiff wind blowing in can take a floating pitch and make it float even more. Wakefield had the devilish pitch dancing; unfortunately, lack of control was his downfall.

"It is [a tough wind] for me, but the problem tonight was the dryness," said Wakefield, who worked 3 2/3 innings, giving up five runs and three hits, walking five and striking out two. "I just couldn't get a grip on the ball. I couldn't even get my fastball over for strikes."

It was a disheartening effort for Wakefield. He had earned the start thanks to a stirring effort in the American League Championship Series against the Yankees -- volunteering for relief duty in the debacle that was Game 3, a 19-8 loss that precluded him from starting in Game 4, then coming in out of the bullpen in Game 6 and getting the win.

Wakefield concedes he was touched by the faith Francona had in him, that it was an honor to get the Game 1 start, and "I was pretty nervous on the first pitch [because it's] the first time I've ever experienced a World Series."

It certainly started well, because Wakefield got out of trouble after yielding a one-out double to Larry Walker in the first inning, then watched as David Ortiz's three-run home run in the bottom half ignited a 4-0 lead. But by now, the cold had become a factor and Wakefield couldn't believe it "when there was a little sleet and snow in the second inning."

He got nicked for a run in the second, then gave up a homer to Walker in the third to make it 4-2.

No worries, because the Sox turned three walks and three singles into three runs in the third and a 7-2 lead ushered Wakefield to the fourth.

Plenty of worries, because with the wind whipping in from behind, the knuckleballer was in serious need of GPS. He walked Jim Edmonds. He walked Reggie Sanders. Then he walked Tony Womack. Wakefield may have gotten himself out of major trouble, only the season-long defensive woes of the Red Sox were magnified on Mike Matheny's sacrifice fly to right. Trot Nixon caught the ball, and had a shot at snaring Sanders trying to go to third. But Kevin Millar took the cutoff and gunned it into the St. Louis dugout. Sanders was waved home, then when Bill Mueller made a play on So Taguchi's ground ball and chose not to try and get Womack going home, the Cardinals had another run and sliced the deficit to 7-5.

Wakefield's evening lasted just a few more pitches, long enough to issue his fifth walk of the evening, to leadoff hitter Edgar Renteria. Whether it was the rust (it had been 23 days since he started) or the wind, the veteran's first World Series appearance had been far shorter -- and far less effective -- than he had hoped. Still, he emphasized the positive and Wakefield gave credit to his teammates for soothing the pain.

"I battled the best I could," said Wakefield. "But I said a couple of days ago that it's going to take all 25 of us in here to win these games. We proved it again tonight."