Red Sox sweep Twins in day-night doubleheader

[April 23, 2009]  BOSTON (AP) -- Brad Penny pitched six solid innings after Tim Wakefield won a rain-shortened complete game, and the Boston Red Sox finished a doubleheader sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 7-3 victory Wednesday night.

Wakefield (2-1) tossed a five-hitter for his second consecutive complete game in the opener, a 10-1 victory that was called after seven innings because of rain. Kevin Youkilis, Nick Green and Mike Lowell each hit a two-run homer.

Penny (2-0) allowed two earned runs in the finale of the day-night doubleheader as the Red Sox extended their winning streak to seven games after a 2-6 start. Jeff Bailey hit a three-run homer and David Ortiz had a two-run double against Francisco Liriano (0-4).

Penny yielded six hits in his first start since giving up eight runs in three innings of Boston's 10-8 win over Baltimore on Friday night. He left Wednesday's game with a 7-3 lead.

The Red Sox got outstanding pitching and hitting in their last four games, outscoring opponents 31-6.

In his first at-bat since being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket after Rocco Baldelli went on the disabled list, Bailey homered in the second inning after J.D. Drew walked and Jason Varitek was hit by a pitch.

Ortiz hit his double in the third, giving him 739 RBIs with the Red Sox and breaking a tie with Joe Cronin for 10th place in club history.

The Twins made it 5-2 in the fourth on Justin Morneau's third homer, a double by Jason Kubel and an error by Green at shortstop that allowed Kubel to score on Brian Buscher's grounder.

But Boston scored two in the fourth. A walk to Bailey and a double by Green put runners at second and third. They scored on Jacoby Ellsbury's groundout and Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly.

Minnesota's final run came in the sixth when Morneau doubled, took third on a flyout and scored on Michael Cuddyer's groundout.

In the opener, the Red Sox needed another long outing from Wakefield, and the 42-year-old knuckleballer came through.

He struck out four and walked one for his 32nd career complete game. He became the oldest pitcher in Red Sox history to pitch a complete game -- breaking the record he set in his previous start, when he rescued a beleaguered bullpen by taking a no-hitter into the eighth against Oakland.

Wakefield is the oldest pitcher to throw back-to-back complete games since fellow knuckleballer Charlie Hough, who was 44 when he did it in 1992 for the Chicago White Sox.

"Kind of fell into that one by accident," Wakefield said. "I'll take it."

His outing left the Red Sox bullpen rested for the second game, which began 47 minutes late because of rain -- but there were no further delays. Tuesday night's game was rained out and rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon, but the teams couldn't quite finish seven innings before umpires brought out the tarp.

"We'll take 'em however we can get 'em," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "The weather cooperated enough that it didn't get in the way of his outing, and we didn't bring anyone else in, either."

The game was called after a 1-hour, 25-minute delay -- Boston's first rain-shortened game since Oct. 1, 2006, when Devern Hansack threw an unofficial, five-inning no-hitter. In an odd twist, Hansack was released before Wednesday's game to make room on the roster for Bailey.

The decision to end the first game and try to play the second -- instead of waiting out the rain to get in one full game -- was made by the umpires.

"When you're down 10-1 with two men still on -- it's kind of a little silly there. How many times are you going to wait four, five hours for a rain delay?" Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Waiting around like that, umpires aren't going to do that. ... But definitely the score of the game makes it a little easier to bang this game. What are you going to say?"

Scott Baker (0-2) gave up a two-run homer in each of the first three innings and the Red Sox added four runs in the seventh before the tarp came out.

Carlos Gomez doubled and scored on Morneau's single in the fifth for Minnesota's only run.

Notes: It was Francona's 50th birthday. ... Youkilis' streak of reaching base in every game ended in the nightcap. He did it in 14 games, the most to start a season for Boston since Manny Ramirez reached base in his first 23 games in 2001. ... In the second game, the Red Sox wore green caps and uniforms with green letters and numbers to mark Earth Day. ... Boston SS Julio Lugo, on the disabled list following right knee surgery, went 0-for-3 with a walk in a rehab game for Triple-A Pawtucket. He said he'll be with Pawtucket on Friday when it begins a three-game series at Lehigh Valley, then join the Red Sox in Cleveland on Monday. "I can't wait," Lugo said. "It's been a long time since I've played up there. It's going to a thrill for me to go back."

[Associated Press; By HOWARD ULMAN]

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