ATLANTA — There's no doubt Tim Wakefield is having a great year for the Boston Red Sox.

It's the veteran knuckleballer's 15th season with the club and he recorded his 10th victory of the year Saturday when he worked six scoreless innings and allowed only three hits as the Sox beat the Braves at Turner Field, 1-0. Wakefield also tied Roger Clemens for most career starts (383) in franchise history.

He'll turn 43 on Aug. 2 and he appears to be getting stronger.

And he's doing it all with a torn labrum.

Wakefield had been bothered by back and shoulder injuries the last few years, and after Saturday's game he admitted exactly what he's been dealing with.

"It's a torn labrum in my shoulder," he said. "If I had [surgery during the offseason] I would have been out for a full year. So it doesn't make any sense, especially [for] somebody my age. Even the doctors say it's not worth doing it because if I'm out a year, I don't know if I could come back."

When he finally decides to permanently stop throwing his knuckleball and call it a career, he might have the procedure done then.

"Only if I need to," he said. "I don't think I'll need to have it done after the fact. I don't think it's going to hurt my golf or tennis game. Hopefully I won't have to have it done, but you never know."

In 2007, Wakefield posted a career-high with 17 wins, but was left off the World Series roster because he was hurting. During a press conference at Fenway Park that October, he was very distraught that his health caused him to miss the Fall Classic.

There was some thought that he might be ready to call it quits. He didn't.

"I didn't think [about retiring], I was just very disappointed I couldn't participate in the World Series in ‘07," said Wakefield. "When you're my age, health issues are hard to avoid. There are obstacles that are going to be there and it's hard to avoid them. I was fortunate enough to have a healthy offseason [in 2007-08] and I got stronger. I was able to pitch normally last year until the end, when I got sore. Hopefully I can continue to do that."

Along with a new offseason workout program, Wakefield has changed his routine between starts and he believes that has helped him tremendously this season, despite the torn labrum.

"I'm really working hard on keeping my cardiovascular exercise going. I'm doing a lot of core work and I think it's helped," Wakefield said. "David Paige, our strength coach, has really done a good job with me, making sure I get all my work done and begin healthy for each start."

Because he's been able to stick to a better regimen, Wakefield finds himself with a 10-3 record in only 15 starts this season. And, it's not even the end of June.

"It feels really good to have 10 wins before the All-Star break. But the most important thing is us winning games," he said.

Wakefield and the Sox needed only one run to win Saturday's. It was Mark Kotsay's two-out RBI single in the sixth inning that proved to be the game winner.

After the game, manager Terry Francona spoke highly of his veteran starter.

"He continues to pitch his rear end off," said Francona. "He just keeps going out there and doing what he's supposed to do. It's fun to watch. I'm proud of him."

Along with Saturday's performance, Wakefield has accomplished a lot in his career.

It's no secret the longer you play the game the better your chances are to reach milestones. Wakefield now has 174 career wins with the Red Sox, which is the third best in the club history behind Clemens and Cy Young, both of whom recorded 192.

"It's pretty cool just to be mentioned with those names," he said. "It's a testament to longevity or perseverance, but to the organization for keeping me around and giving me a chance to still pitch in a Red Sox uniform."

It remains to be seen if Wakefield will be able to stay healthy long enough to continue his roll in an attempt to match those aforementioned names. Maybe if there wasn't that stretch during from 1999 to 2002 where he worked out of the bullpen, his stats could be a lot different.

Either way, Wakefield is focusing on the present and wants to help his team win another World Series. If he's able to accomplish that, he'll do it with a torn labrum.

"I'm thankful that I've been here for as long as I have been," he said.

jmcdonal@projo.com