This, of course, has been a rarity at Fenway Park recently. The Sox have waited out three consecutive rain delays and have not started on time in four of the five games this homestand.
During the series with the D-backs, the Sox have started an average 33 minutes behind schedule. That should change Wednesday for the rubber match between these two teams, as Boston looks to steal this series much like it did in Tuesday's 5-4 late-inning comeback victory.
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The Sox allowed two runs or fewer in six of the team's nine games on the previous homestand against the Rays, Mariners and Orioles. That hasn't been the case this time around, as both the Cardinals and D-backs have scored three runs or more four times in five games.
With Tim Wakefield on the mound in the finale, the Red Sox hope to change that equation and salvage a .500 record during this home stint.
To do it, Wakefield will need to silence Conor Jackson. Arizona's cleanup hitter and first baseman has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, hitting .371 over that span.
Jackson walked in the third inning of Tuesday's game against the Sox, then trotted home on Chad Tracy's three-run homer that put the D-backs up, 4-1. Tracy's four RBIs in the contest matched his career high, which he's accomplished three times.
Wakefield will oppose Randy Johnson, although the Big Unit isn't particularly having a season that follows his normal protocol. Johnson is 4-5 with a 5.09 ERA.
Pitching matchup
BOS: RHP Tim Wakefield (4-5, 4.17 ERA)
Wakefield has given up three earned runs or fewer in each of his past five starts since allowing eight runs in five innings against Oakland on May 23. He's gone at least seven innings in all of those outings, but is just 1-2 in that span. His outing on Friday resulted in a 5-4 Red Sox loss to the Cardinals. Still, his ERA has continually dropped in each start from its highest point of the season on May 23, when it rose to 5.19 after that rough outing against the A's.
ARI: LHP Randy Johnson (4-5, 5.09 ERA)
Johnson has dropped his past four starts and over that span has a 7.77 ERA. In Friday's outing against the Twins, he allowed seven runs on 11 hits while tossing his first complete game since Aug. 24, 2006. Six of the seven runs came during the third inning. Johnson has allowed 10 or more hits in back-to-back starts for the first time in his career, and his outing against the Twins was the first time he had struck out one or fewer batters since Aug. 4, 2006.
Sox Stuff
The Sox's come-from-behind victory on Tuesday was the team's 19th this season and second in their past three games. ...The win was Boston's first against Arizona at Fenway Park. ...The Cubs are now the only Major League team that the Red Sox have not defeated in a regular-season contest at Fenway. ... Justin Masterson became the seventh Sox pitcher since 1956 to throw at least six innings in six of his first seven career outings.