BOSTON — There was a little too much spin and not enough knuckle for Tim Wakefield last night.

The Red Sox’ veteran knuckleballer was cruising along in just his fourth start of the season. In the first five innings, he allowed just one run, which was unearned, in the first inning, and was in control until the sixth.

The Toronto Blue Jays’ lineup scored three runs off Wakefield the sixth en route to a 7-3 victory over Boston at Fenway Park. He suffered the loss to even his record at 2-2 after he surrendered a total of eight hits, with two walks and five strikeouts.

“I felt like I pitched pretty good until the sixth,” said Wakefield. “The leadoff walk shouldn’t have happened, and with Vernon’s (Wells) speed at first I tried to be a little bit too fast to the plate to give Doug (Mirabelli) a chance to possibly throw him out. I just left the ball up.”

He did leave the offering up just a bit, around neck-high, and Jays slugger Frank Thomas deposited it into the Monster seats to give Toronto a 3-2 lead. Wakefield felt that pitch was the turning point of the game.

“Unfortunately, I made a mistake there,” he said. “It was a mistake on my part and it cost us the game.”

Because the Jays nearly went through their entire batting order in that inning, Red Sox manager Terry Francona decided Wakefield had had enough after a total of 100 pitches (75 strikes) and shut him down after six.

“I thought he was very good early and into the middle of the game,” said the manager. “The sixth was so long, it made it tough to send him out in the seventh. I thought his ball was moving well. You look at the scoreboard and we weren’t doing a lot of damage tonight.”

The Red Sox’ offense has scored a total of only 11 runs for Wakefield this season.

Flashing leather

Give Mike Timlin a gold glove right now. The Red Sox reliever made two terrific back-to-back plays in the top of the ninth inning. Blue Jays slugger Thomas hit a chopper back to the mound on a checked swing that Timlin snared and threw to first for the out. The next Toronto hitter, Gregg Zaun, smoked a liner right back at Timlin that, fortunately, he snared with his glove. “Lucky stab,” he said. “Either I caught it or it caught me . . . You just hope it doesn’t catch flesh. Usually the flesh is from the neck up.”

Unfortunately, he didn’t have as much luck with the next Jays hitter, Aaron Hill, who belted a two-run homer into the Monster seats above the left center-field wall.

Somber news

Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky received some troubling news during last night’s game at Fenway Park. He was told that writer David Halberstam had died in a car accident earlier yesterday in San Francisco. He was 73.

Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, wrote the book The Teammates, which chronicled the life of four friends — Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Bobby Doerr and Pesky — on and off the baseball field.

“It was flattering,” Pesky said about the best-seller. “I am so sorry to hear about what has happened. He was a fine man, a great author and writer. He did everything possible a good human being could do. He was just an outstanding man and I feel very badly about this.”

During last night’s game, Pesky said he had not spoken with Doerr or DiMaggio about the accident, but planned to call his friends when he got home.

During the 2004 Triple-A All-Star Game in Pawtucket, Pesky, Doerr and DiMaggio participated in a Q & A session about the real-life story of “The Teammates,” mostly discussing Williams as a man, friend and teammate.

No ringing endorsement

A 2004 Boston Red Sox world championship ring is being auctioned on eBay, and as of yesterday the bidding was near $16,000.

The Red Sox handed out an unprecedented 500 World Series rings the following spring, and not all were the same. There are four different levels of classification – A, B, C and D. According to the posting on eBay, the ring is the same as the players received, but that can’t be the case. The ring up for auction was given to Cucho Rodriguez, a former team scout based in Puerto Rico. A scout would not have received an “A” ring, which the executives, players, manager and coaches were given.

There are plenty of fans in Red Sox Nation who probably can’t fathom the idea of someone selling a World Series ring.

Crisp off

Center fielder Coco Crisp was not in the lineup again last night for the second consecutive game.

He had some tightness in his oblique muscle that forced Francona to scratch the center fielder from Sunday’s lineup against the New York Yankees. Crisp was inserted into the game late on Sunday, but Francona, and the team’s training staff, felt it was best to give him another day off for precautionary reasons.

Francona said Crisp is feeling better, and the manager thought about playing him last night but decided against it.

The injury has nothing to do with his back flip over the bullpen wall while attempting to rob Alex Rodriguez of a home run on Friday night.

Francona said Crisp will be in the lineup tonight.

Pedroia’s back

Dustin Pedroia was sitting in the dugout yesterday afternoon and feeling more confident. He just finished taking an early session of batting practice and felt his recent slump is behind him, thanks to a two-hit performance Sunday.

More importantly, it was his glove that proved crucial on Sunday as he made a tremendous two-out diving grab late in the game with Yankee runners in scoring position.

“That play he made defensively was more important than any hit he got last night,” said manager Terry Francona. “Fortunately, he understands that. It was also nice to see him get hits because you want to see guys have success, for sure. Hopefully, now he takes that and runs with it.”

His double in the second inning Sunday night snapped a 0-for-13 skid.

Lester pitches tomorrow

Jon Lester will continue his rehab with the PawSox tomorrow as the left-hander will start against the Rochester Red Wings. He is slated to throw 80-85 pitches. Since Pawtucket has Thursday off, there was some discussion that Lester would start again for the PawSox on Monday, which would be his fifth day. But Francona said the organization thought it best to give him an extra day, so he will work again next Tuesday.

kmcnamar@projo.com