Sports Redux: In Wake We Trust

Well, if your game against Tampa Bay gets upgraded to "must-win" status, you had better make sure Tim Wakefield is on the mound. Wake owns the Devil Rays. And Wake, last night, handcuffed, bound, gagged and threw the Rays into the river, giving up only two hits in an eight-inning masterpiece.

The Red Sox' home run boycott continued, but they did give Tim more than enough run support. David Ortiz doubled in the first run, then they added two more on RBI singles by Julio Lugo and Mike Lowell. That was more than enough runs for the Sox to breathe easy and allow Ortiz to do his Jack Palance imitation; when he hit the deck on a close pitch from James Shields, he stayed on the ground long enough to do a couple of push-ups. Anything to get that home run strength back, Papi!

But the story of the night was Wakefield. Six strikeouts, two walks. A no-hitter until Carl Crawford singled to lead off the seventh. We know the Red Sox organization has a hardline mentality about retiring players' numbers, but performances like this make us want to put together a petition or something. Then after eight innings of flailing at the knuckleball, Tampa had to retool to try to hit Papelbon fastballs. They did not.

So, for one day at least, the Red Sox don't lose any ground. The Yankees recovered from a blown save by Mariano Rivera to top the Orioles and stay four games back. Guess Baltimore shot its late-inning-heroics wad over the weekend.

Tonight should be a special night at Fenway. Jon Lester wants to be just a pitcher, and not the guy who came back from cancer surgery, but the fact is that tonight will be his first game at Fenway since said surgery, and he's going to get a long, loud round of applause, and he'll just have to live with it. But after that, just pitch, baby.

The Herald had a quick interview with Paul Pierce about KG, Reggie Miller, and which of the remaining youngsters will most be helped by playing with the [have we decided on a nickname yet? Three Kings was shouted down, but it seems like Ghidorah is gaining some momentum]. CelticsBlog gives a little rundown of the personality and expected role of each of the three stars.