Wake and Johnson make Fenway history

On a night that saw two golden oldies go head to head, Tim Wakefield got the better of the big unit Randy Johnson. With the sox and D-backs tied at 1-1 in the three game series, Boston needed a big outing from Wake on Wednesday, and that's exactly what they got. The Floridian born knuckle baller proved decisive, going 7 innings, giving up no earned runs, 2 hits, 1 walk and striking out 6. The sox bats were consistent through out the game, Brandon Moss had 2 RBIs, and the biggest surprise of the night was catcher Kevin Cash, only in the game to catch wakes knuckle balls, going 1-3 with a run and a 3 run homer that crashed into the green monster. The last homer Cash hit was also off Randy Johnson at Yankee Stadium some 128 at-bats ago. Cash's main job is to catch Wakefield, and that arrangement has been working rather well of late. In Wakefield's last six starts, he is 2-2 with a 2.09 ERA. With a combined age of 86 years and 252 days, Wakefield and Johnson took part in the oldest match up in any Red Sox game since Sept. 25, 1965, when Bill Monbouquette faced off against Satchel Paige. And according to Elias Sports Bureau, it was the oldest combined age of starting pitchers in the history of Fenway Park.

Youk returns home

Cincinnati native Kevin Youkillis will ruturn home for the first time since the Red Sox drafted the All-American out of the University of Cincinnati in the eighth round of the 2001 First-Year Player Draft, after the team down Vine Street overlooked him. Youkilis has already taken in some of his hometown food favorites, including Skyline Chili in downtown Cincinnati, before Friday's game. With Friday's loss, the Red Sox fell to 14-21 on the road. They are also now 3-1 against the Reds in Interleague Play, having swept them at Fenway Park in 2005. Tonight sees Wakefield take on cincy ace, Edinson Volquez, who currently leads the major's in both strikeouts (96) and ERA (1.56).

Manny will miss Saturday

Manny Ramirez will not play Saturday after tweaking his sore right hamstring in Friday's 3-1 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Manny left the game in the middle of the seventh after telling manager Terry Francona that his hamstring was bothering him.

Tim Russert dead aged 58

To go completely off the topic of baseball, Early this afternoon, NBC broke the news that Tim Russert, member of the NBC family, had collapsed and died. Serving 16½ years as moderator, Tim was the longest serving host of NBC's Meet the Press. Russert was one of the country's most respected and influential political journalists, and in 2008, TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Tim had just returned home to Washington, following a family vacation in Italy, where he went to celebrate his son's recent graduation from Boston College. I think the whole country's sympathy will go out to his wife Maureen and son Luke.

Big Papi becomes an American citizen

David Ortiz, one of the finest sluggers in the long and storied history of the Boston Red Sox, is now an American citizen. Dominican born Ortiz, affectionately known throughout Major League Baseball as Big Papi, got sworn in on Wednesday along with 226 other immigrants at the John F. Kennedy Library in Dorchester, Mass. Papi told reporters, "I'm proud to be an American, and it's great to part of the American family." When reporters asked him why he chose to become an American citizen, he replied, " well, my whole family, pretty much my kids and everybody have been born here." Ortiz held an American flag in one hand as he recited the Pledge of Allegiance with the other new citizens.

Sox rally, but bullpen struggles

If there was an area that had been performing above all others for the Red Sox over the last couple of weeks, it was the bullpen, which had become increasingly consistent. However that trend halted on Tuesday night, when Hideki Okajima, brought on to hold Josh Beckett's two-run lead in the seventh, couldn't get the job done leaving pitches in the meaty part of the strike zone. Okaji continues to struggle against Baltimore, the lefty's ERA is 13.50 against the Orioles, and 0.40 vs everyone else. With Ortiz missing in the lineup, due to suffering a partial tear of the ECU tendon sheath in his left wrist, J.D Drew continues to be Boston's hottest bat, In a game that the Red Sox struggled offensively, J.D unloaded for a two-run homer deep into the bleachers in right. In the next at bat Manny followed Drew's blast with a solo shot, No 505, that soared over the Green Monster. Just like that, Ramirez passed Eddie Murray and moved into sole possession of 23rd place on the all-time list. After the game Pedroia told reporters, "We had that lead and didn't hold it, kind of came apart there at the end. I think we're still playing good baseball. We've just get to let this one go and come out tomorrow and try to win."

Celtics Success Appreciated By Everyone In Red Sox Nation

It seems that Boston is going Celtics crazy at the minute. The Red Sox announced on Monday that its Tuesday and Thursday tilts with the Baltimore Orioles have been shifted to begin one hour earlier than scheduled, both beginning at 6:05pmET. The Celtics head out to LA, for the first of 3 games on Tuesday, both Tuesday's and Thursday's games start at 9:00pmET, giving both Red Sox fans, And players enough time to get home from the ball park for opening tip off. It sure is a great time to be a Boston sports fan at the minute, with the Red Sox topping the AL east, a whole 7 games in front of those damn Yankees, and the Celtics winning both opening home games against the Lakers (The Lakers have never won all 3 games at home in an NBA finals series) Boston sports fans have every reason to be happy.