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Curtain call

Frank Thomas just stuck his head out of the dugout, long enough to get a rousing ovation from the crowd after his third home run of the game. This one, off Kyle Snyder, was a two-run shot, bringing the score to 6-1.

It was his 25th homer of the season, coming on a 2-0 pitch. He now has 512, tying him with Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks for 18th place all-time.

But this wasn't his first three-homer game. His first one came back on Sept. 15, 1996, in Boston. The pitcher that day? Tim Wakefield, against whom he hit all three in that game, and two of his three tonight.

Before tonight, Thomas was 10-for-45 lifetime off Wakefield, with four home runs and eight RBI. He went 2-for-3 off the knuckleballer tonight, with those two homers and three RBI. And it took a play by Dustin Pedroia, in which he went behind the second base bag, to get Thomas in his second at bat.