199

The Seattle Mariners did all they could to end this hideous 14-game losing streak they are on. It looked promising when Miguel Olivo hit a two-run shot off tim Wakefield in the first inning. Heck, even manager Eric Wedge shaved off his patented mustache to try to bring the club some luck.

No dice.

The Sox marched back in the first, scoring five runs, which included a two-run shot by Kevin Youkilis.

The Red Sox batted around twice, scored another five in the fifth, won 12-8, and now Seattle has dropped 15 in a row, a new team record. And now it becomes a national story.

Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and jarrod Saltalamacchia each had three hits (Salty had four RBI). Dustin Pedroia doubled in the 7th to extend his hitting streak to 21 games.

But the story of the day on Sunday was Wakefield. He gave up a grand slam to Brendan Ryan in the 7th that ended his day (when was the last time a Red Sox pitcher gave up a grand slam and left to a standing ovation?), but the run support was plenty, and he got his 199th career victory, and win number 185 with the Sox. He trails Cy and The Liar by just seven wins for first in team history.

Wake also fanned Mike Carp, former Brooklyn Cyclone, for strikeout number 2,000 in his Red Sox career. He is second behind the Texas Con Man, but trails him by over 560 strikeouts, one he will unfortuantely not reach.

The Sox have now won 9 straight home games and are 15-3 in July. The Seattle sweep now means they have won six straight series. New York's win over Oakland keeps the Red Sox lead at 3 games, as Jon Lester returns tomorrow night against Kansas City.