Wakefield departed after seven innings with a 2-1 lead, having thrown 73 of his 94 pitches for strikes while allowing six hits and one walk and very few well-hit balls. But reliever Ramon Martinez wasted no time in assuring Wakefield that he would not get a victory in his return from the DL. Scott Podsednik, pinch hitting for Jayson Nix, led off the eighth with his fifth homer of the season, a shot into the Red Sox bullpen that tied the game at 2-2. Ramirez leads the Red Sox relief corps in the dubious category of blown leads and ties with six. No one else has more than four.
Ramirez then walked Beckham, who stole second with one out and moved to third on a groundout by Konerko. Terry Francona lifted Ramirez and brought in righthanded rookie Daniel Bard to face lefthanded Jim Thome and his 564 career homers, even though Bard had given up runs in four straight games and five of his last six, allowing eight runs -- including three homers -- in 5 2/3 innings. But Bard fanned Thome on three pitches to keep the game tied.
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