Tim Wakefield was denied win number 200, and Dustin Pedroia’s hitting streak came to an end as the Gavin Floyd quieted the Red Sox’ bats, leading the White Sox to a 3-1 victory.
With Tim Wakefield starting strong, only giving up his first hit in the fourth inning, the Red Sox got out to the early lead when Jarrod Saltalamacchia worked a long at bat against Floyd. On the eighth pitch of the battle, the White Sox starter left a slider up in the zone, and Saltalamacchia didn’t miss it, launching the ball well into the stands in right.
The lead held until the sixth, when the White Sox used some small-ball to tie things up. Juan Pierre led off the frame with a bunt single, was moved over to second on Omar Vizquel’s sacrifice, and then was brought home on a Paul Konerko sacrifice fly following a wild pitch.
That tie would not last long. Carlos Quentin drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, bringing A.J. Pierzynski to the plate. As often seems to be the case with Tim Wakefield, it took just one hanging knuckleball to undo a night of good work. Pierzynski let loose on the floating pitch, and blasted a two-run shot to put
the White Sox up 3-1.
The Red Sox bats had been quiet all night, only once really getting a chance when Kevin Youkilis was rung up on an outside pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the sixth. Included in the hapless top-of-the-order (batters one-through-six went 0-for-20) was Dustin Pedroia, whose poor performance broke up a hit streak of 25 games. Nothing changed in the eighth or ninth innings, and the Red Sox were sent back to their hotel with an 0-4 record against the White Sox on the season.