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Drew, Red Sox aim to continue success against NL

Jun 20, 2008 - 2:40 PM St. Louis (42-32) at Boston (46-29) 7:05 p.m. EDT

BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Red Sox enjoy interleague play.

After taking two out of three against the Philadelphia Phillies during the week, the Red Sox are 7-2 in interleague play this season and have gone 39-10 - including the playoffs - against the NL since the beginning of the 2006 campaign.

The Red Sox look to continue that trend when they open up a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

Tim Wakefield (4-4, 4.19 ERA) takes the mound for Boston, hoping to continue a string of solid starts. The 41-year-old knuckleballer has gone at least seven innings in each of his last four starts and has not allowed more than two runs during that time.

The righthander did not factor in the decision in his last start, giving up two runs over seven innings in Boston's 6-4, 10-inning victory over Cincinnati last Saturday.

Wakefield will be facing a Cardinals offense, which managed only four runs during a three-game sweep at the hands of the Kansas City Royals. St. Louis lost, 4-1, on Thursday.

Kyle Lohse (8-2, 3.77) hopes to get some run support when he takes the hill for the Cardinals. The righthander has won five straight starts and allowed just two runs over eight innings last Saturday, leading St. Louis to a 3-2 victory over Philadelphia.

Lohse will have to deal with Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew, who is batting .441 (26-of-59) with nine home runs and 21 RBI in the month of June. Drew had four hits, including a homer, and four RBI in Boston's 7-4 victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday.