Wakefield sets age record as Sox outslug Rays

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Wakefield became the oldest pitcher in Red Sox history to record a win and Boston belted five home runs to top Tampa Bay, 11-5, in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Marco Scutaro went 4-for-5 with a pair of homers and three RBI, while Victor Martinez, David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre also went deep for the Red Sox, who despite the win are 6 1/2 games behind the wild card-leading Rays.

Wakefield (4-10), who had lost his previous four decisions, won for the first time since July 2 against Baltimore. The knuckleball specialist, making his first start since August 25, moved to 21-6 all-time against the Rays. He allowed six hits and five runs -- four earned -- over five innings.

Wakefield, at 44 years and 37 days old, passed Dennis Eckersley as the oldest pitcher in club history to record a victory. Eckersley got his last Sox win on September 17, 1998 at Baltimore at 43 years, 349 days old.

B.J. Upton homered for a second straight night, this time a three-run blast in the second inning, but the Rays fell 2 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Yankees. New York rallied for a 3-2 win over Baltimore Wednesday afternoon.

Matt Garza (14-8), who had won his last three decisions, was tagged for nine hits and six runs in 4 1/3 frames.

Evan Longoria lofted a sacrifice fly in the opening inning and Upton's homer to left in the second moved the lead to 4-0.

In the bottom half, Ortiz walked ahead of Beltre's 27th homer of the year, his 1,001st career RBI.

Scutaro led off the third with a homer, and two outs later Ortiz went deep for the 29th time this season. The blast over the Green Monster tied the score at 4-4.

Brad Hawpe scored on Jason Bartlett's double in the fourth, but Boston went ahead for good with a three-spot in the fifth. Martinez started the frame with a homer to center. Chad Qualls came into the game with one out, but Ryan Kalish doubled home Ortiz, who walked earlier in the inning. Longoria's throwing error brought in Kalish for a 7-5 Red Sox edge.

Martinez singled in Scutaro in the sixth and the Sox tacked on three more runs in the seventh, two coming on Scutaro's 10th homer of the season. The hit came just after Lars Anderson's RBI single.

Game Notes

Wakefield went over the 130-inning mark this season, meaning he'll automatically receive a $500,000 raise to $2 million for 2011, the final season of his contract...Tampa Bay won the season series, 11-7, winning six of nine at Fenway.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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