Wakefield Knuckle-izes The Philllies

On Sunday afternoon, Tim Wakefield, with his magical floating offerings, threw 8 shutout innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, who have one of the strongest lineups in the game. In doing so he became the oldest pitcher since Charlie Hough to put 8 goose eggs up on the scoreboard. The final score was Boston 8 Philadelphia 3. The not-ready-for-prime-time Ramon Ramirez pitched the ninth after Wakes told Francona he was gassed. The Phillies third baseman, Greg Dobbs, had these words of praise for the "old man"...

“He’s tough. He had the ball floating up and way out of the zone or down and in and out of the zone. And then he’d pop a heater at 72 mph and make it look like 95."

The white-hot Kevin Youkilis had a triple followed by a home run, another one of his no-doubt-about-it taters. It was sweet to see, a jump up and cheer moment of elation.

Next up are the first place Tampa Bay Rays, who have the best record in the American League. The Florida team swept the Red Sox in their first series, which was held at Fenway. After the game, Pedey Pedroia had this to say...

“That thing was dancing all over the plate. He was great today. We’ve got some good pitching performances the last few days. That definitely helps. Now we need to do it against Tampa, try to shut them down. We weren’t playing very well the first time we played them. Hopefully we go in there and play better.’’

Wakes' offerings were literally fluttering, dancing and floating, confusing and confounding the heavy hitting Phillies. The three game series against Tampa Bay begins tonight. Here's all you need to know...

5/24/2010 at TB 7:10 PM ET ESP2/SUN ** Buchholz (5-3) vs. Davis (4-3)
5/25/2010 at TB 7:10 PM ET NESN/SUN ** Lester (4-2 vs.Shields (5-1)
5/26/2010 at TB 7:10 PM ET NESN/SUN ** Lackey (4-3) vs. Garza (5-2)

That's it for now. Another Monday, another week but we're only 5 days away from the Memorial Day weekend. Nadia is flying in around noon tomorrow for 10 days or so. It'll be nice to see her. I then will be accompanying her back to Minnesota to help her buy a car. Oy vei. Tomorrow, the temperatures are expected to reach the mid-90s with increased humidity. A/C time here in Farmington for the first time in a long time.

Don't forget to click on this post's title to be linked to something about the Sox and as always, BE WELL. See ya. Soon. I have just one more day of complete bliss but as I said earlier, it will be great to see her. She's already picked out two or three places/restaurants she'd like to go to, including a place called The Chowder Pot right here in Hartford. I love their steamingly hot cheese encrusted onion soup followed by a salad and a baked stuffed (or steamed) lobster. MMMM, I'm getting myself hungry. I'd better go check the refrigerator. Pronto.