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Wakefield sharp as Red Sox pound Devil Rays

Jul 28, 2007 - 3:14 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield continued to be perfect at Tropicana Field, while the Tampa Bay Devil Rays continued to be perfectly awful.

Wakefield improved to 8-0 lifetime in Tampa Bay and Kevin Youkilis had a three-run home run as the Red Sox defeated the Devil Rays 7-1 Friday night.

Tampa Bay, which owns the worst record in the majors, lost its seventh consecutive game and fell to 5-24 since June 25.

Wakefield (12-9) improved to 17-2 all-time against Tampa Bay, including 8-0 and a 2.32 ERA at Tropicana Field. Both win totals are the most by a Devil Rays opponent.

"I like pitching here, pitching inside," Wakefield said. "The ball seems to move more in the Dome.

"I'm excited about that (a 17-2 record vs. Tampa Bay). It's not an automatic win against these guys. They have a good lineup over there."

The veteran righthander scattered six hits and allowed only one run in six innings, marking the sixth straight start he's gone at least six innings. He struck out seven and walked three.

"When the environment is controlled, his ball does a lot," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "The way he pitched allowed us to stay patient. We were patient and got base runners so if someone does run into one, we get the dividends."

Boston, which had lost six of its last eight contests at Tropicana Field, had trouble getting untracked early against Jason Hammel, who retired the first 11 batters he faced.

"Hammel's change-up was very effective," Francona said. "We knew he was on a pitch count. He did a very good job."

Hammel (1-1) allowed only one hit - a single by David Ortiz - but left with one out in the sixth after consecutive walks to Alex Cora and Julio Lugo.

"I felt good mentally, but my body just couldn't catch up," Hammel said. "We'll build on that."

Youkilis greeted reliever Juan Salas with a three-run home run, much to the delight of the crowd of 33,144 that featured more visiting Red Sox fans than Devil Rays fans.

"We weren't scoring any runs and we needed to give Wakefield some run support," Youkilis said. "You can't judge this team by the first five innings, it's a nine-inning game."

In the eighth, Boston tacked on four more runs. J.D. Drew had an RBI single, Coco Crisp added a two-run double and Doug Mirabelli clubbed an RBI single.

"We've got a lot of fans," Lugo said. "It feels like you're at home."

The win moved the Red Sox to 63-40, tying for the fourth-best start after 103 games in franchise history.

Tampa Bay's lone run came in the second on Dioner Navarro's RBI single. Navarro entered the game hitting a team-worst .178.

Lugo, who was with the Devil Rays from 2003-06, had his 15-game hitting streak halted by his former team. Lugo went 0-for-4.

Friday's game was the first of 15 games between the Red Sox and Devil Rays in their next 54 contests.

The Devil Rays' seven consecutive losses all have been against American League East opponents.

"You just can't give Boston's bullpen a chance to keep the lead," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "They're that good."