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Sep 5, 2009 - 4:54 AM By MATT BROWN STATS Editor

Boston (78-55) at Chicago (66-69), 4:10 p.m. EDT

Creaky backs are a fact of life for men in their forties. The Boston Red Sox hope Tim Wakefield's 43-year-old back is healthy enough to help carry them into the postseason.

One day after being given the green light to return, Wakefield will take the mound Saturday afternoon for only the second time since the All-Star break as the Red Sox continue their Labor Day weekend series against the White Sox in Chicago.

Wakefield (11-3, 4.12 ERA) pitched well enough in the season's first half to make his first All-Star team. The knuckleballer is 5-0 with a 3.61 ERA in eight starts since the start of June. However, back pain that will eventually require surgery landed Wakefield on the disabled list following the All-Star break.

He made an encouraging return Aug. 26 against the White Sox, limiting them to one run over seven innings of a contest the Red Sox (78-56) eventually won 3-2. Two days later, though, Wakefield's back locked up on him again, causing him to skip a turn in the rotation.

After a cortisone shot Monday and a successful bullpen session Thursday, manager Terry Francona declared Wakefield healthy enough to take the mound for this contest.

"If he threw and came in (Friday) morning and said `Hey, you know what, this is not good,' then we wouldn't do that," Francona said. "We know what we're dealing with. He might not be able to take the ball every five days. We know that; he knows that. So we'll just kind of see how he does."

They certainly hope he does better than another aging starter fared in the series opener. Making his second major league start since coming out of retirement, Paul Byrd gave up seven runs in 2 1-3 innings Friday as the White Sox (67-69) rolled to a 12-2 victory - Ozzie Guillen's 500th as manager.

Mark Kotsay, whom Chicago acquired from Boston for Brian Anderson on July 28, went 3 for 4 with a homer and three RBIs against his former team to help Chicago win its third straight, lending credence to general manager Kenny Williams' claim earlier Friday that his team is still aiming for the playoffs.

"There's a lot that can happen in this month of September, but no there is no quitting or giving up," said Williams, whose White Sox are third in the AL Central, seven games behind front-running Detroit. "We're still in it to win it."

Boston, meanwhile, saw its AL wild-card lead dwindle to two games over Texas after losing for the fifth time in 17 contests.

In search of its longest winning streak since a season-high seven-game run June 27-July 3, Chicago will give the ball to Gavin Floyd (10-9, 3.97). The right-hander is 0-2 in his last three starts, but has received only one run of support in each outing. He gave up three runs and nine hits over six innings of Monday's 4-1 loss at Minnesota.

Floyd opposed Wakefield last month, allowing two runs over six innings and not recording a decision. He is 2-0 with a 4.98 ERA in four appearances - three starts - against the Red Sox.