Wake in trouble?

[Raji]

Knuckle-busters: Did the Yanks derail Wakefield’s season?


Ah, the ups and downs of a knuckleballer.

Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield posted an American-League-leading 1.79 ERA in a 4-3 start to the season, never allowing more than three earned runs. Since then Wakefield has lost four of his last five, giving up 26 runs in the process to balloon his ERA to 4.22. Two of those losses came in the span of 10 days against the New York Yankees, with Wakefield giving up 14 earned runs.

In fact, Wakefield is now 0-3 with a 10.93 ERA against the Yankees this year.

"I just didn't have it tonight," Wakefield said after his second blowout loss to the Yankees. "I couldn't throw strikes, couldn't throw my fastball for strikes and pretty much stunk it up tonight. And I am embarrassed about it and disappointed in my outing."

Covers Expert Scott Rickenbach says Wakefield’s poor form against New York is not a major shock.

"He faced the Yankees twice during this bad stretch. Last season the Yanks also gave Wakefield some trouble so two poor starts against them really can't be viewed as a big surprise," says Rickenbach.

One thing that is surprising is Wakefield’s inability to bounce back from those defeats to New York, and it remains to be seen if this is a temporary glitch or a season-long struggle.

Covers Expert Dave Malinsky thinks Boston’s upcoming schedule will help, "We can not be sure yet that his form is falling off; it might just be a case of having faced the wrong lineup."

"We will learn a lot in the next start or two – I would not be surprised to see him bounce right back again, since he will be going against teams that do not have much experience at all against his knucklers."

There were some signs of improvement in Wakefield’s latest start, against the Oakland A’s. He managed to strike out a season-high eight hitters and walked just two on Wednesday night. The three runs he allowed were the fewest he'd given up in a start since May 10, but he still took the loss to drop his record to 5-7.

"As far as how to bet Wakefield coming up I would pay special attention to the opposition," Rickenbach adds. "If it's a stadium where he's struggled or if it's against a team who has hitters he has struggled against then take heed."

"Otherwise, Wakefield is very likely to resume his early-season success in the very near future."

Wakefield’s next start comes at Fenway Park against the Colorado Rockies tonight, with the Red Sox set as heavy –180 favorites. The knuckleballer is 1-3 with a 6.46 ERA in four starts in Boston this season.

Raji