Tim Wakefield pitched six strong innings Wednesday night to pick up his league-leading 11th victory of the season.

Journal photo / Ruben W. Perez

BOSTON -- Tim Wakefield is having an unforgettable season.

Not only did the 43-year-old knuckleballer break Roger Clemens' record (382) for the most pitching starts in a Red Sox uniform (384) this season, but after 17 years in the major leagues, he was finally selected as an All-Star for the first time in his career this year.

He knew that no matter what he did Wednesday night in Boston's series finale against Oakland that he was going to complete one of the best first halves of a season in his career. But he also knew that he could finish the first half of the season as the American League leader in wins with a victory. And that's what he set out to do.

Mission accomplished.

Wakefield (11-3) got into his share of jams, but in the end made the pitches count when he needed to. He out-dueled Oakland rookie Trevor Cahill (5-8) to help lead the Red Sox to a 5-4 triumph over the A's at Fenway Park.

"I had good control tonight," said Wakefield, who received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 37,981. "I was able to make pitches when I needed to. I pitched well, but there [have] been [times] where I let a big inning get out of control and tonight I was able to stop the bleeding quick."

Oakland put at least one runner in scoring position in three of the first four innings, and four of the first six against Wakefield, who allowed only one earned run on 10 hits with eight strikeouts in six innings plus two batters. But Wakefield did not falter.

"I couldn't have done it without the rest of the guys on the field," Wakefield said of becoming the first A.L. pitcher to reach 11 wins. "I owe a lot to those guys. They are playing great defense and the bullpen has been phenomenal all year. I've pitched well but I had a lot of help too."

"There were at-bats where guys came back and said they'd never seen it move as much as it was," Oakland manager Bob Geren said of Wakefield's pitches. "But then again, we turned around and we got ten hits."

The Red Sox only had one scoring opportunity in the opening five frames against Cahill (5 1/3 innings, 4 runs, 1 strikeouts, 3 walks).

"[Wakefield] gave our offense a chance to get going because Cahill, we saw that changeup and through the first four or five innings, we just couldn't do anything," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He was going right through us."

The Red Sox finally solved Cahill in the sixth when they exploded for four runs.

J.D. Drew led off the momentum-swinging sixth with a solo home run that tied the score at 1-1.

After a Dustin Pedroia infield single and Kevin Youkilis walk, David Ortiz sent a Cahill offering over the fence in right field for a three-run homer on a 2-and-1 pitch to give the Red Sox a 4-1 lead.

"J.D. took a good swing and then Dave just mashes one right through the wind so that gave us a chance to play with the lead and we needed it," Francona said.

"That was awesome," Wakefield said of the Ortiz home run. "The clubhouse has had so much confidence in him even though he was struggling in the first month or two but he's a presence at the plate. We need his bat in our lineup. He's the man."

An error by shortstop Nick Green in the top of the seventh inning got the A's back in the game. The Red Sox should have ended the frame without giving up a run when Scott Hairston popped out to first base. Bobby Crosby failed to tag up on the pop up and should have been thrown out at second base for the double-play, but Green, after receiving the ball from first baseman Mark Kotsay, could not find the bag with his foot before Crosby got back to the base.

The next batter, Kurt Suzuki, ripped a two-out, two-run single to left field that slashed Boston's advantage to 4-3. But Ortiz gave the Red Sox a 5-3 cushion in the bottom of the seventh inning by plating Drew with a RBI groundout to second base.

Oakland did its best to rally against Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon but came up short. Papelbon walked the first batter he faced, Adam Kennedy, and Orlando Cabrera followed that up with a single before Scott Hairston drove-in Kennedy with a sacrifice fly to center field to make it a one-run game.

Papelbon came right back and struckout Matt Holliday, but he gave up a single to Suzuki which put runners on first and second base with two outs. With the game on the line, Papelbon struckout Jack Cust to earn his 22nd save of the season.

"He's one of the few guys, [New York Yankees closer] Mariano [Rivera], there's a few – the really good ones – they can pitch out of innings when it's not perfect," Francona said of Papelbon.

roblee@projo.com