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Red Sox take rubber match from Cubs at Fenway

May 23, 2011 - 6:16 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Tim Wakefield gave up just one run while Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run triple to help the Boston Red Sox take a 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs in the finale of a three-game interleague set.

Wakefield (1-1), starting in place of an injured John Lackey, was charged with just four hits and the run over 6 2/3 innings with three strikeouts for the Red Sox, whose loss on Saturday snapped a seven-game winning streak.

"On a personal side, every win is precious, but as long as the team wins," Wakefield said. "Even though I didn't get that [3-2 win on May 1] against Seattle, we came back and won the game, which is the most important thing."

Adrian Gonzalez went 4-for-4 with two runs scored while Jarrod Saltalamacchia added a solo home run in the win.

Jeff Baker drove in the lone run for the Cubs, who came into the game having won three of four. James Russell (1-5) was making a start instead of Matt Garza, who had his spot skipped due to elbow tightness. Russell gave up three runs on seven hits over four-plus innings.

"We just couldn't solve Wakefield, it's that simple," Cubs manager Mike Quade said.

This was the first time the Cubs made a trip to Fenway Park since the 1918 World Series.

The Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth and sacrifice flys from Jed Lowrie and Mike Cameron helped the team take a 2-0 lead.

Saltalamacchia led off the fifth with his third home run of the season to give Boston a 3-0 lead.

The Cubs, who were limited to two hits through the first six innings, finally got one off of Wakefield in the seventh. Starlin Castro led off with a double and came home when Baker followed three batters later with a two-base hit to make it a 3-1 game.

Daniel Bard took the mound for Boston after the Baker hit and struck out Alfonso Soriano to prevent any further damage.

Boston, though, got that run back and another in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, consecutive singles from Dustin Pedroia and Gonzalez preceeded a Youkilis triple off of Kerry Wood for a 5-1 lead.

Bard worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning while Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth to finish the game.

Game Notes

Boston hits the road for seven games starting with a three-game set in Cleveland on Monday...Chicago hosts the Mets for three games starting on Tuesday...This was the first meeting between these two clubs since Chicago took two of three from Boston in the Windy City in June of 2005.