Boston wins pitchers ' duel
Red Sox 1, Braves 0
Associated Press
Sunday, June 28, 2009

ATLANTA --- Who would've envisioned this: Tim Wakefield joining Roger Clemens in the Boston record book?

The 42-year-old knuckleballer pitched six scoreless innings to beat the Atlanta Braves 1-0 on Saturday, a worthy performance for the game that tied him with Clemens for the most career starts by a Red Sox pitcher.

"Just being mentioned with the names I'm being mentioned with is pretty cool," said Wakefield, who made his 382nd start for Boston. "I'm thankful I've been here as long as I have."

Former Brave Mark Kotsay, playing in place of Jason Bay, drove in the game's only run with a sixth-inning single off Javier Vazquez, who certainly pitched well enough to win but got no help from the listless Atlanta offense.

The Braves have scored only one run in two games against the Red Sox this weekend, extending their losing streak to four in a row and dropping a season-worst six games under .500 (34-40).

Wakefield (10-3), the former Augusta Pirate, became the AL's third 10-game winner, joining Minnesota's Kevin Slowey and Toronto's Roy Halladay. The Braves managed only three singles off the Wakefield.

"It feels really good to have 10 wins before the All-Star break," he said.

Former Augusta GreenJacket Manny Delcarmen retired all four hitters he faced, Justin Masterson got out trouble in the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon worked around a shaky ninth to complete the four-hit shutout, his 18th save.

But Wakefield did the bulk of the work.

"He continues to pitch his rear end off," manager Terry Francona said. "That was a tough day for anybody, but he just keeps going out there doing what he's supposed to do. I'm proud of him."

The Braves threatened against Papelbon. Brian McCann flied out to the wall in right-center and Garret Anderson doubled with two outs, but Casey Kotchman grounded out to end the game.

"It's so frustrating," McCann said. "This team should win more games the way our pitching is."

The Braves didn't get a runner past second until the eighth, and they had to scratch for that. Matt Diaz walked against Masterson, moved up on a wild pitch and took third on a groundout.

Boston took advantage of a lineup weakened by injuries to Nate McLouth and Yunel Escobar. Three of Atlanta's nine hitters came into the game hitting below .200.

Vazquez went 7w innings, allowing six hits and three walks.

"You've got to keep battling," Vazquez said.

TODAY'S GAME

BOSTON RED SOX AT ATLANTA BRAVES

Brad Penny (6-2, 4.93) vs Tommy Hanson (3-0, 3.13)

1:35 - TBS/FSN - Turner Field

From the Sunday, June 28, 2009 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
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