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Wakefield, Johnson square off in series finale

Jun 25, 2008 - 12:15 PM Arizona (40-38) at Boston (48-32) 7:05 p.m. EDT

Boston (Ticker) -- When the Boston Red Sox host the Arizona Diamondbacks in the rubber game of an interleague series on Wednesday there will be a combined 37 years of major league experience on the mound.

It will be a contrast in styles as well as hard-throwing 44-year-old Randy Johnson starts for the Diamondbacks and 41-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield goes for the Red Sox.

Johnson (4-5, 5.09 ERA) has built a Hall-of-Fame resume by overpowering hitters - recently taking over second place on the all-time strikeout list. But lately his stuff has been falling flat, and hitters have been taking advantage.

He has lost each of his last four starts while compiling a 7.77 ERA and allowing opponents a .324 batting average. Should he drop Wednesday's series finale, it would mark the first time since 1999 that he has lost five starts in a row.

Wakefield (4-5, 4.17) has been stronger of late, posting a 2.50 ERA in his last five starts but only managing one win over that span.

He is 10-15 with 4.77 ERA in 50 career interleague games - 32 starts.

Boston evened the series in dramatic fashion on Tuesday, plating four runs in the eighth inning to erase a 4-1 deficit. Julio Lugo and Jacoby Ellsbury led off the eighth with back-to-back singles to chase starter Doug Davis.

Righthander Chad Qualls came on and allowed an RBI single to Dustin Pedroia before striking out J.D. Drew and forcing Manny Ramirez into a fielder's choice. But Mike Lowell followed with a double to drive in two runs and Jason Varitek added a go-ahead RBI single.