Seattle Mariners defeat Boston Red Sox, 4-2

Not long after the gates opened last night and the hardy souls filed into Fenway Park for the second game of the doubleheader, word came that there had been a pitching change.

Instead of a matchup between Felix Hernandez and Jon Lester — two of the best baseball has to offer — the fans would see Hernandez face off against Tim Wakefield. The knuckleballer was making his first start in more than a month after Daisuke Matsuzaka’s back soreness led to a change in the Boston ro...

BOSTON—Felix Hernandez kept the Boston Red Sox from making a big jump in the playoff race.

Seattle's ace became the third youngest pitcher since 1952 to reach 1,000 strikeouts, pitched 7 1-3 strong innings and led the Mariners to a 4-2 win and a split of their day-night doubleheader Wednesday.

Boston won the opener 5-3 behind Josh Beckett, and a sweep, on a night when the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays lost, would have cut its deficit from 6 to 4 1/2 games again...