FORT MYERS, Fla. – It works wonders, that knuckleball.
For 10 seasons, Red Sox mainstay Tim Wakefield has been an invaluable presence in both the Red Sox pitching rotation and bullpen, remaining one of the most respected and important members of the clubhouse.
Friday in front of 7,499 fans at the City of Palms Park, the knuckleball struck again – this time at the heart of the Northeastern batting order.
Wakefield was penciled in as the Red Sox starter to face-off against Northeastern in the second exhibition game of spring training for Boston, and immediately got down to business, starting two innings of a seven-inning, 17-0 no-hit win for the World Series trophy holders.
“Wake did good,” said Boston manager Terry Francona, who said the Northeastern performance was a chance for Wakefield to prove himself among the starting pitching hopefuls for the Sox. “Wake came to camp noticeably stronger. Maybe that translates into a couple miles harder on his knuckleball. It looked it today; it looked a little firmer to me.”
The Huskies couldn’t figure Wakefield out from the minute he stepped onto the field, striking out three times in two innings. The Red Sox then struck for four in the bottom of the second, helped by a double down the left-field line by Johnny Damon. The inning ended promisingly for NU, however, when Dave Pellegrine struck out Manny Ramirez looking, and then Matt Piryk caught David Ortiz swinging.
Dave McCarty, a 12-year MLB vet and Red Sox roster invitee, batted seventh in the Sox order.
“You can tell a lot of the guys were nervous,” he said of the Huskies. “It’s a good experience for those guys. For a guy to get out there, pitching and striking out a major leaguer or to make a great play against a major leaguer, it’s something special.”
John Halama then pitched two for the Sox, along with Jack Cressend, Jason Kershner and Scott Cassidy, who all contributed to the no-hitter that saw just three Huskies reach first base.
Northeastern manager Neil McPhee explained how happy he was for his team – and how proud the team should be to have faced a major league team.
“If you look at the paper, you’ll see that the Marlins played Miami, Pittsburgh played a community college over there, Georgia Tech played the Atlanta Braves, all within the last few days,” he said. “Now Northeastern is playing the Red Sox. We join a very elite group of lucky programs that happen to have a great relationship with the hometown team.”
