Dragnet Tampa: A Wakefield must win?

Does anyone else feel comfortable with Tim Wakefield pitching a must win game? Didn’t think so?

Wake tosses tonight. If he wins, it’ll be nine in a row in the Trop. That’s something to talk about, no?

Now consider the fact that Wakefield isn’t even pitching to his usual trusty target, Doug Mirabelli. Instead he gets longtime minor league target Kevin Cash. That’s right, a knuckleball pitcher tossing to a backstop who has a grand total of zero games receiving him.

Of course, it’s worth mentioning that Cash isn’t a complete stranger to knuckleball pitchers. He’s been catching AAA knuckleballer Charlie Zink, not to mention two starts of fellow minor league knuckler Josh Barnes, becoming accustomed to catching flutterballs and becoming a reliable backstop. But no matter how you dice it, Cash is a minor league catcher - he’s no higher than third among the team’s catching prospects, at best - and is in the bigs at the moment just because he’s slightly more comfortable with knuckleballs, and ergo Wakefield.

That’s why the strange duo - a young catcher and pitcher who’s older than the hills - will combine to try to shut down the Devil Rays tonight (here’s the preview from Baseball-Reference). If they can pull it off, they’ll maintain one of the more unique streaks in sports.

How else can you describe Wakefield’s current streak in Tampa Bay. He’s never lost under the dome at Tropicana Field - he’s 8-0 with a 2.33 ERA lifetime - and is a combined 18-2 overall against the ever-woeful Devil Rays.

No Big Papi? No worries. ManRam will still hit against Tampa Bay tonight.

And while it’s never great to go up against budding ace Scott Kazmir, if you’re heading in to the Bay you might as well go carrying a big stick. Strangely, that stick for the Sox is new reserve outfielder Bobby Kielty. The corner man who’ll be batting third in the lineup tonight for David Ortiz (Manny Ramirez will bat in his conventional clean up spot and DH) is a whopping 7-for-13 with two homers and four RBIs against Kazmir in his career. Boston went out and got him because he could hit lefthanded pitching, and if he hits Kazmir tonight, he’ll truly prove he can hit anyone.

The Sox had better hope he can. Otherwise that precarious four-game lead will be three, and three’s more than company when it comes to a divisional lead.

– Cameron Smith