Wrap-up

The Red Sox don't gain any ground on the Rays with the 8-0 win over Chicago, since the Rays beat up on Baltimore 14-3, but at the same time they don't lose any.

Chicago can't say the same thing, with Minnesota up 8-2 on Oakland in the sixth.

Guillen didn't exactly hide his feelings after the loss.

"I feel like we had another day off today," he said. "Now we have two days off in a row."

And getting done in yet again by Daisuke Matsuzaka didn't do much to cool him off.

"He always pitches good against us," he said, steaming after Dice-K went eight innings against his squad for the second time since Aug. 9.

Seeing Dice-K go that long was a plus for Sox manager Terry Francona.

"He looked strong," Francona said. "It's getting to that point in the season where we're heading into September and he seems to have a lot left which is good news. I'm sure he could have gone out in the ninth and finished that game, I didn't see any reason to do it."

Dice-K saw some areas where he could improve.

"These past two or three games, I have been pitching inconsistently," he said, after picking up his 16th win this season (it's ties him with Hideo Nomo for most by a Japanese pitcher). "I think I mentioned this last time but those games were the period where my fatigue peaked in the season. I don't quite think I got over it today, and I think I'll take another start to see how I feel but what I'd like to do is learn from my mistakes last season and be able to pitch healthy all the way to the end."

The Sox purchased Michael Bowden from Pawtucket and plan on throwing him tomorrow against Mark Buerle (11-10, 3.86), passing on original probable right-hander David Pauley.

"We wanted to fortify our bullpen a little bit so we moved Pauley back out there tonight before the game," Francona said. "Just in case something ever happens we have somebody with length. We can start Bowden tomorrow, hopefully he pitches great. This is a little bit of a rapid assent, but I think we all feel, our development people especially that he can handle whatever comes at him."