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Red Sox hope to bounce back from season-long slide

Jun 6, 2007 - 3:04 PM Boston (37-20) at Oakland (30-27) 10:05 pm EDT

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Oakland Athletics have done something over the last two days that the American League has been trying to do all season, quiet the bats of the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox hope to snap a season-high, three-game losing streak when they visit the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday in the third game of a four-game set.

Struggling Tim Wakefield (5-6, 4.24 ERA) will try to play the role of stopper. The 40-year-old knuckleballer is in the midst of a slump of his own recently, losing three of his last four starts after beginning the season 4-2 with a league-best 1.79 ERA through May 10.

Wakefield's ERA has surged to 9.13 over his last four outings. He lasted a season-low 3 2/3 innings while allowing eight earned runs Friday against the New York Yankees.

Unlike in the past, Wakefield cannot count on a strong offensive output. Boston has managed just four runs in two games so far this series, getting shut out on Tuesday by a pair of former teammates, Lenny DiNardo and Alan Embree.

The latest A's starter to try and shut down the Red Sox will be Joe Kennedy (1-4, 3.30). The lefthander is one of many reclamation projects Oakland is trotting out to the mound these days, and just like DiNardo, Embree and Chad Gaudin, Kennedy has taken the opportunity and excelled.

He has yielded more than three runs just once in 11 appearances - 10 starts - this season. He bounced back from his only poor outing of the season with a one-run effort in eight innings on Friday against Minnesota, though he did not factor in the decision.

Oakland has won seven of its last eight meetings with Boston.