Some nuggets from here and there:

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* – Red Sox pitchers fanned 11 Orioles last night, the 34th time this season that they’ve struck out 10 or more. That’s the 4th most such games ever in a season by a Red Sox pitching staff:

42 – 2001
40 – 2009
35 – 2002
24 – 2010

Want some context? The Sox struck out 10+ opponents only twice in 1979 and three times in 1978.

One Other Thing: Last year, the Red Sox went 32-8 in those games and allowed an average of 3.90 runs per game. This year, they are 19-15 and have allowed 4.62 runs per game despite all the strikeouts.

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* – Scott Atchison retired all 6 batters he faced on Thursday. It was just the 9th time this season that a Red Sox reliever has pitched 2+ innings without allowing a baserunner. Three guys have done it twice: Daniel Bard, Manny Delcarmen, and now Atchison.

Historical context alert: In 1965, Hoyt Wilhelm of the Chicago White Sox had ELEVEN such appearances all by himself.

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* – JD Drew reached base 3 times last night. It’s the 16th time this season that he’s been on 3+ times, a far cry from recent seasons:

2006 – 35
2007 – 34
2008 – 34
2009 – 29
2010 – 16

Since coming to Boston in 2007, Drew has reached 3+ times in 113 games, tied for 16th in the AL in that span. New York’s Derek Jeter (150) has the most.

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* – Remember all the consternation over Daniel Bard’s propensity to allow too many home runs after giving up 3 in 14.2 April innings? Well, since May 1, he’s allowed 2 homers in 48.2 innings with a 1.48 ERA, which is tied for 2nd in the majors in that span (min. 45 innings):

1.13 – Hong Chih-Kuo, LAD
1.48 – Daniel Bard, BOS
1.48 – Billy Wagner, ATL

Bard has not allowed a run at home (earned or unearned) since May 8, a streak of 16 consecutive scoreless appearances. That’s tied for the 3rd longest streak ever by a Red Sox pitcher:

22 – Mike Myers (2004-2005)
18 – Tom Gordon (1998)
16 – Daniel Bard (2010)
16 – Mike Timlin (2003)
16 – Mace Brown (1943)

The longest streak ever is 39, by Arthur Rhodes (2008-2009).

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* – Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed exactly 4 earned runs last night for the 4th consecutive start, so I thought I’d check to see who has thrown the most consecutive starts allowing the same number of ER in each. It appears to be Detroit’s Dave Wickersham, who allowed exactly 4 ER in 8 straight starts back in 1965. I did run across a couple other interesting streaks though: John Farrell allowed exactly 3 ER in 7 straight starts in 1989 and in 2002, Tim Wakefield had 7 consecutive starts in which he allowed exactly 1 ER each time.

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* – The Red Sox host the White Sox this weekend. In the last 10 meetings between the two at Fenway Park, the Red Sox have outscored Chicago 73-36 in winning 8 of those 10.