Twins rapped by knuckler

Tim Wakefield kept his opponents baffled with his money pitch, and David Ortiz supplied all the offense the Red Sox needed.

By La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune

Last update: May 4, 2007 - 11:51 PM

Let's travel back to the Tom Kelly era for a minute. It was then the Twins first came up with the theory that a knuckleball moves better indoors than outdoors.

Opposing knuckleballers seemed to have success against Twins hitters (OK, there was a time when most pitchers did).

"We talked about this a long time ago, when T.K. was managing here, about trying to get knuckleballers here at the Dome," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, "because it is pretty good for a knuckleball here."

There was such a pitcher at the Dome on Friday, but Tim Wakefield wasn't wearing a Twins uniform. He was shutting them down for seven innings and helping Boston win 2-0.

Wakefield held the Twins to three hits and three walks before yielding to the bullpen because he's been fighting a virus the past few days. Boston scored on a mammoth homer by David Ortiz in the sixth and an RBI single by Coco Crisp in the ninth.

The Twins actually spoke with Wakefield's agent after the 2000 season, but Wakefield re-signed with Boston. The Twins are still looking for their knuckleballer.

Meanwhile, Wakefield ran his career record at the Dome to 7-3. He's also 7-0 at Tropicana Field, another covered park. He's 5-3 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, which has a retractable roof.

Makes one wonder.

"I don't know what it is about pitching in the Dome," Wakefield said, "but I get a little more movement on the ball. I can't explain it."

Wakefield (3-3) entered the game with a nice .210 batting average against but had walked 15 batters in 311/3 innings. The Twins, however, entered the game with the third-fewest walks in the AL and seemed to be a good matchup for him.

That proved to be the case.

Justin Morneau flew out with two on to end the first. Luis Castillo lined out with two on to end the second. There were no real threats after that. The Twins tried to worked the count -- Wakefield threw 104 pitches over seven innings -- but the wily righthander stayed out of trouble, hiding his 75-mile-per-hour hour fastball and even throwing one breaking ball late in the game that floated in at 59 mph.

"He always pitches good here," Twins designated hitter Mike Redmond said. "He'd probably win 20 games in the Dome. Every time we've faced him he's been tough."

Twins righthander Carlos Silva did more than his part, holding the Red Sox to one run over seven innings on five hits, two walks and one strikeout in what was his strongest outing of the season. He kept the ball down and on the corners all night, which almost covered for the Twins' lack of offense for most of the night. Silva (2-2) lowered his ERA to 2.75.

Ortiz smashed a 423-foot homer to right in the sixth on a pitch meant to be up that dropped into his wheelhouse. Boston then scored an extra run in the ninth off Juan Rincon.

"Chief deserved the win tonight," Redmond said of Silva. "He's worked real hard."

La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com