01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, April 16, 2006

BY PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- If ever there was a day when Tim Wakefield had the right to complain about a lack of support, it was yesterday.

The Red Sox starter had his knuckleball dancing on an outrageously beautiful April afternoon at Fenway. Wakefield pitched a complete game against Seattle, striking out six and not walking a batter. Yet he came away a 3-0 loser because of a total lack of support.

The defense that has been so good for the retooled Sox in the first two weeks of the season, stumbled badly this time. The offense, with a revised lineup as manager Terry Francona gave three regulars a day off, produced nothing. Even the umpires conspired against Wakefield, missing a call that cost a run.

Instead of complaining about everything that went wrong around him, Wakefield blamed himself.

"I'm really disappointed with the way things went in the third inning," he said, referring to the frame in which Seattle scored all its runs. "It's my job to go out there and get my team back in the dugout, and I didn't do a very good job of that."

"Most of the time when Wake goes out there, gives up three (runs) and throws a complete game, we are out there shaking hands and patting him on the back," said Francona. "We just couldn't mount much of an attack."

Wakefield noted how Seattle starter and winner Joel Pineiro had gotten himself out a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the bottom of the second to keep the game scoreless. Then, in the next inning, he allowed the Mariners to score three runs.

Truth be told, though, he should have been out of the inning with only one run allowed.

Right fielder Wily Mo Pena, who is hitting better but continues to be an adventure in the field, misplayed one ball into a double. Catcher Josh Bard had two passed balls in the inning, one of which allowed Ichiro Suzuki to reach base on a strikeout. And second base umpire Rick Reed, thinking time out had been called, cost the Sox another out on a runner who eventually scored.

Yuniesky Betancourt led off the pivotal third with a double to left. Suzuki then struck out, but reached when the dipping knuckler got past Bard and went to the screen. With Jose Lopez at the plate, Bard had his second passed ball, allowing Betancourt to score. Bard now has had five passed balls in three games. Doug Mirabelli, Wakefield's personal catcher last year, had six in 43 games.

Lopez eventually lined out, with Kevin Youkilis making a nice diving catch at third. Ibanez then lined a shot to right. Pena started in, then froze. By the time he turned and headed back, the ball was sailing over his head. It landed on the front edge of the warning track and one-hopped over the Mariners' bullpen for the second run. With Richie Sexson up, Wakefield spun and threw to second baseman Alex Cora, who had snuck in behind Ibanez. Cora tagged Ibanez for an apparent out. But Reed, the second base umpire, said it was no play.

"Apparently he thought it was a timeout and that it was a dead ball," Wakefield related. "On the pitch prior to that, the ball got away from Bark a little bit . . . Unfortunately stuff like that happens."

Ibanez, who probably would not have been on base in the first place with better defense, was still alive. And he scored the third run soon after, when Richie Sexson singled.

The inning was made all the more frustrating for Boston because it had loaded the bases with no outs in the previous inning. J.T. Snow walked, Pena doubled him to third, and Bard walked after a terrific 12-pitch at-bat. But Pineiro struck out Alex Gonzalez and Adam Stern, and got Alex Cora on a grounder to second.

"When you get the bases loaded and come way with no runs, it's disappointing," Snow said. "It was kind of a frustrating day all around."

Wakefield certainly deserved a better fate.

"Timmy could have probably thrown 20 innings," Bard said. "He did a great job for us . . . I dropped the ball; (there was) the ball that got past Wily Mo. A couple of things let him down. He could have just given up one run. But we've got to score to win."

With Mark Loretta, Jason Varitek and Mike Lowell on the bench, and Bard, Cora and Snow in their place, the Sox managed only five hits. They were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, making them 1-for-18 in the two games against the Mariners.

Even with his team struggling to put runs on the board, Francona did not second-guess himself for playing his second-unit.

"Well, I wrestle with it a lot," he said. "I just have come to the conclusion that 162 games is a long time. If I try to do something I'm not supposed to do, it will end up catching up with us. I think about it a lot, though. It's an understandable point. I just think that if you do things against what you think is right you are going to end up causing more problems. You might win one game and lose 10 down the road."

pkenyon@projo.com / (401) 277-7340