Wakefield shuts down Phillies in Red Sox win

[May 24, 2010]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Tim Wakefield pitched eight shutout innings for his first victory in nearly a year, and the Boston Red Sox roughed up Roy Halladay in an 8-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.

Kevin Youkilis tripled, homered and scored three runs for Boston.

Wakefield's knuckle ball, which averaged in the mid 60s, flustered the Phillies. He allowed five hits and two walks in earning his first win since July 8, 2009, against Oakland. Wakefield (1-2) earned his 190th career win as the Red Sox took two of three from the Phillies.

Ramon Ramirez allowed three runs in the ninth -- Raul Ibanez's RBI double and pinch-hitter Ross Gload later connected on a two-run homer.

Youkilis aided the Boston offense with a triple to open the second and a towering homer to left in the sixth off Halladay, giving the Red Sox a 4-0 lead. Youkilis is 21 for 58 in his career against Halladay.

Halladay (6-3) was hit hard a start after he didn't appear to have his best stuff in a 132-pitch complete game effort against Pittsburgh on Tuesday, a 2-1 loss. On Sunday, Halladay, who has a major league-leading four complete games, saw his ERA jump from 1.64 to 2.22 after allowing eight hits and seven runs six earned in 5 2-3 innings.

Halladay appeared to have an inning-ending double play in the fourth, but Adrian Beltre's soft grounder went straight through third baseman Greg Dobbs' legs, allowing two runs to score for a 3-0 advantage.

Youkilis led off the second with a triple to deep center field, which bounced out of Shane Victorino's glove as he jumped for the ball. J.D. Drew followed with an RBI grounder to first, scoring Youkilis for a 1-0 lead.

NOTES: The sellout was the 65th in a row at Citizens Bank Park. In the process, the Phillies became the first team in majors to surpass one million in attendance this season. ... Red Sox OF Mike Cameron, who has been on the disabled list since April 20 with a lower abdominal strain, played in a rehab assignment with Double-A Portland on Sunday. He doubled in his first at-bat. ... Boston RF J.D. Drew was in the starting lineup despite a nagging hip flexor. ... Wakefield was on the verge of registering his first shutout since July 29, 1997, against Seattle a 4-0 win over Randy Johnson. ... Gload's pinch-hit homer was his second of the season and seventh of his career.

[Associated Press]

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