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Wakefield looks to match Beckett with 16th win

Aug 25, 2007 - 1:31 PM Boston (78-51) at Chi White Sox (56-72) 3:55 pm EDT

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- One day after his teammate moved into the major league lead with 16 wins, Tim Wakefield will look to match that mark when the Boston Red Sox visit the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

Josh Beckett picked up win No. 16 in the opener of Friday's doubleheader and Curt Schilling stymied the opposition in the nightcap as the Red Sox outscored the White Sox by a lopsided 21-4 in capturing both games.

Boston is 5-0 against Chicago this season.

Wakefield (15-10, 4.35 ERA) has won eight of his last 10 starts while receiving decisions in all 25 of his outings this season. The veteran knuckleballer is coming off back-to-back scoreless starts against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, allowing just six hits in his last 15 innings.

He earned a win against the White Sox on July 22, yielding four runs and six hits in 6 1/3 frames. Part of Wakefield's success this season has been an ability to work deep into games, and he has completed at least six innings in 19 of 25 starts.

The White Sox will counter with Mark Buehrle (9-8, 3.42). The veteran lefthander, who tossed a no-hitter in April, has struggled of late, going 0-2 with a 6.61 ERA in his last three outings.

He will have to figure out a way to stop Boston slugger David Ortiz, who homered twice in the nightcap on Friday and has six multi-hit games in the last eight contests. Ortiz is 15-for-40 (.375) with a pair of homers and five doubles off Buehrle in his career.