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Red Sox set their sights on the American League's best record

Sep 29, 2007 - 1:31 PM Minnesota (78-82) at Boston (95-65) 7:05 pm EDT

BOSTON (Ticker) - The Boston Red Sox captured their first American League East Division title since 1995 on Friday night. They will look to lock up the AL's best record when they host the Twins on Saturday.

The Red Sox earned a 5-2 victory on Friday to cut their magic number to one, and then waited over an hour with about 3,000 fans and watched the New York Yankees lose to the Baltimore Orioles in extra innings, clinching the division.

Boston remains tied with the Cleveland Indians (95-65) for the best record in the league and the right to choose which playoff format they would prefer in the first round. The Red Sox own the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Indians.

Tim Wakefield (16-12, 4.80 ERA) will get one more chance to round into postseason form on Saturday. The veteran knuckleballer has been terrible since returning from a back injury on September 6.

In four starts since his return, Wakefield is just 0-2 with a 10.70 ERA. He is allowing opponents a .402 batting average while surrendering 13 extra-base hits in 17 2/3 total innings.

The Twins will counter with sinkerballer Carlos Silva (13-14, 4.22). The Venezuelan righthander has been sharp lately, winning his last two starts while allowing just two runs in 13 2/3 combined innings against Texas and Detroit.

Silva has had success against Boston in his career, owning a 2-2 mark with a 1.69 ERA in five games - four starts.