Wells flirts with no-no at Fenway

BOSTON -- There have been swings for David Wells this season for sure. His manager, who is only four years older than Wells, chalked the inconsistency up to age.
"There's going to be some times over the course of the year when he doesn't feel like a spring chicken, that's just the way it is," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said before the game.

It was not that way Tuesday night at Fenway Park. Wells, at 42 years old, looked like a left-hander at his vintage best. For the second time in as many outings, Wells was almost untouchable. By firing seven innings of one-hit ball, Wells lifted the Red Sox to a 7-0 victory over the Reds.

For a little bit, it looked like Wells -- who threw a perfect game on May 17, 1998 -- might be on the verge of another historic outing.

But his no-hit bid was snapped with two outs in the sixth on a clean single to right-center by Ryan Freel.

"It didn't faze me," Wells said of losing the no-no. "It would have been nice to get, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. It's a tough thing to do. Everything has to go right. And a lot of luck is involved. I knew it was going on, and I didn't let it bother me. I've been through one before. If it didn't happen, I wasn't going to lose any sleep over it."

What likely did manage to keep Boomer's eyes open at night were some of the performances he turned in earlier this year. Consider that in his four losses, Wells has a 13.21 ERA. Fortunately for Wells and the Sox, the last of those defeats came on May 18, when the A's tattooed him (1 1/3 innings, nine hits, seven runs) in his return from the disabled list.

"I don't think I could have gotten any worse," said Wells. "I need to get better as the year goes on. If I was continuing to give up four or five [runs] a game, I probably wouldn't be around. I know that I'm a better pitcher than that."

It's hard to imagine he could be much better than he was in stifling the Reds, for whom he pitched for two months during the 1995 season.

Aside from the one hit he allowed, Wells hit Sean Casey in the top of the fourth and uncharacteristically walked two batters in the seventh. Otherwise, he was flawless. Just ask the Reds.

"It was the David Wells show," said Reds manager Dave Miley. "He pitched a [heck] of a ballgame. He was right on us, we didn't have a lot of good passes at him. He had good movement, spotting the ball everywhere."

Shutting down the Reds
Cincinnati at Boston, June 14, 2005
David Wells, Mike Timlin and Keith Foulke combined for nine innings of one-hit, shutout ball. They fanned eight batters. Their lines:
IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Wells 7.0 1 0 0 2 5 4.54
Timlin 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 1.45
Foulke 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 5.59

As crafty as Wells is, he wasn't going to let Tuesday's ideal elements -- a swirling wind blowing in and unseasonably cool temperatures -- go unnoticed.

"The ball was moving tonight, it was a good wind," Wells said. "The ball was moving a lot. I had great sink on my sinker. The curveball was biting good and I was just spotting my four-seamers. When you play the elements and get a good wind that's coming toward you, it's going to make the ball move a little. So I just went with it. I found my groove, I found my release point."

How dominant has Wells been in his five wins? He hasn't been scored on in four of them. And in the one victory he was scored on, he allowed two solo shots to the Yankees in the first inning and didn't allow a run the rest of the way.

"He kept them off-balanced, worked fast," said Sox third baseman Bill Mueller. "He did all the things that David Wells does, and that's go out there and put together a great performance."

This, on the heels of the gem Wells threw last Wednesday in St. Louis, when he allowed just four hits over eight shutout innings

Boomer, who looked ancient at times earlier this season, is feeling young again.

"Just believe in yourself," said Wells, "and good things will happen."

While the struggles of the starting rotation was a topic of conversation just a few days ago, the Sox have now received three high quality outings in a row from Tim Wakefield, Matt Clement and Wells.

For the second start in a row, Wells hardly needed any offensive support, but the Sox gave him some anyhow.

Reds starter Luke Hudson dug himself a hole in the bottom of the second. He walked Manny Ramirez and Kevin Millar before allowing a one-out single to left to Jason Varitek, loading the bases for Mueller. The switch-hitter promptly drilled a two-run single up the middle. Johnny Damon added an RBI double to left to make it 3-0.

Bill Mueller / 3B
Born: 03/17/71
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 180 lbs
Bats: S / Throws: R

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The Boston bats got back into gear in the sixth. With two on and one out, Millar lined an RBI single to left. Mueller again delivered with the bases loaded, this time lacing an RBI single to right that gave the Sox a 5-0 lead.

"Obviously, the run support, I'm happy with," said Wells. "Anybody is happy when you get four or five runs. So that was a plus."

Ramirez, showing signs of going on the hot streak the Sox have been anticipating, hammered a solo shot to left-center in the seventh. It was the third homer in as many games for Ramirez, and it came on a night that the ball wasn't exactly carrying.

"He hit that ball through the wind," Francona said. "That just kind of underscores how Manny hit that ball."

John Olerud added an opposite-field RBI double to left later in the inning.

The bullpen took it from there, as Mike Timlin (1.45 ERA) was his typical self, striking out two in a hitless eighth, and closer Keith Foulke showed more signs of being back on track, firing a 1-2-3 ninth.

"When you're scuffling as a team, there's a pretty good chance your pitching is," said Francona. "If we're going to be consistent, your pitching is what dictates for the most part how crisp your ballclub looks."

Source: http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/