It may seem like it’s taken forever for Tim Wakefield to get his 200th career win, but he’s had longer droughts in his career. In a span that covered the end of the 2000 season and lingered into 2011, Wakefield went 11 starts without recording a victory for the Pirates.

It’s now six starts and counting since Wakefield last had a win on July 24, which is tied for the fourth-longest drought of his Red Sox tenure. But all of that is small comfort as he continues to sit on 199 wins.

Wakefield gave up eight runs — four earned — in four innings of work in a 15-5 loss to the A’s Friday night at Fenway and while he was often a victim of bad luck, Wakefield was also hurt by the long ball. He’s now given up 10 home runs in his last eight games after surrendering two more against the A’s.

Wakefield’s start comes on the heels of Andrew Miller‘s most impressive outing of the season, which may open the debate about who deserves to stay in the rotation in the month of September. But with a loaded schedule that includes 23 games in 23 days beginning Tuesday against the Yankees, the Sox may be in no hurry to make a decision.

For now, the wait simply continues for No. 200.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE RED SOX

- The fourth inning started poorly and got progressively worse. It began with some bad luck after Wakefield appeared to catch Kurt Suzuki with a full-count fastball but home plate umpire Brian Runge called it a ball. After a pop-up that would have ended the inning, Scott Sizemore took Wakefield deep to make it 4-1.

That’s when things really went bad. Wakefield struck out Jemile Weeks but he reached on a passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. After a walk, Hideki Matsui launched a two-run double to center and then Josh Willingham made it 8-1 with yet another home run. For good measure, an error by Jed Lowrie prolonged the inning.

- It was probably inevitable after the team plane landed around 5 a.m. from Texas, but the Sox were a step behind defensively all night. Saltalamacchia’s passed ball opened the door to further damage in the fourth and then in the seventh, Mike Aviles had problems in left field and Lowrie committed his 15th error of the season. His five alone at third base are as many as he has had in his previous seasons.

- Lowrie’s struggles with lefties continued as he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez and also struck out against reliever Jerry Blevins. Lowrie is hit-less in his last eight at-bats against lefties and has only two hits in last 14 at bats. He also struck out looking with runners on second and third in the seventh against the right-handed pitching Grant Balfour.

- After giving up four runs in the eighth, Matt Albers has given up 13 runs in 4 1/3 innings in his last five appearances.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE RED SOX

- David Ortiz continued his impressive assault against left-handers. He came into the game hitting .328 against lefties and went 2-for-2 against Gonzalez and added a double against reliever Brian Fuentes. Ortiz swatted his 26th home run of the year and now has eight home runs against lefties this season, which is even more impressive when you consider that he had eight combined the last two seasons. Since returning from a heel injury, Ortiz is 6-for-12 with two doubles and two home runs.

- Dustin Pedroia tied his career-high for home runs with his 17th of the season in the fourth inning off Gonzalez. Pedroia is now 33-for-82 (.402) with six home runs out the cleanup spot in 20 games.

- Scott Atchison was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket to provide protection to the pitching staff in case things got out of hand either Friday night or in Saturday’s doubleheader and the Sox needed him on Friday. He gave them three solid innings in relief of Wakefield, allowing one run on three hits.

- Kudos to Darnell McDonald for picking up the Sox with an inning of mop-up work in the ninth. It’s never an ideal situation for a position player to take the mound, but McDonald gave it a shot. It was the first pitching appearance of his career.

Adrian Gonzalez belted two more home runs as the Red Sox took three out of four from Texas. (AP)

A little more than a week ago, Red Sox manager Terry Francona suggested that the next two weeks could be a trying time for his club. Kevin Youkilis was going on the disabled list and David Ortiz was going to sit out with an aching right heel. Eight days later, the Sox are looking a lot better after they wrapped up an eight-game road trip with a 6-0 win over the Rangers in Arlington.

The Sox are 30 games over .500 (80-50) for the first time this season and are coming home with a one-game lead in the American League East in their backpocket.

They bashed four more home runs on Thursday, giving them nine for the series with Texas. Once again it was Adrian Gonzalez who did the most damage. Gonzalez drove the first pitch he saw to center field to put the Sox up early and then he did the same thing to the next pitch he saw — launching it an estimated 448 feet. Going back to Wednesday’s game, Gonzalez hit three home runs on three straight pitches.

Ortiz also went deep — his first home run since returning from a right heel injury — and Jarrod Saltalamacchia added to the fun with one of his own in the fourth with an opposite-field shot. That was more than enough for Andrew Miller, who turned in his best start of the season.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE RED SOX

- Is is time to reassess Miller? The big lefty worked into the seventh inning for the first time as a member of the Sox and he’s allowed just one run in his last 12 innings. He was dominant through the first five innings, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out five. It was the Sox first shutout since July 20 against the Orioles.

Miller pitched through trouble in the sixth after a walk and a Marco Scutaro error put two on with nobody out and the top of the Ranger lineup staring him in the face. But Miller got through the jam, striking out Josh Hamilton — the third time he struck out the former MVP.

The Sox decision to go with a six-man rotation for the time being has paid off, especially with Saturday’s doubleheader against Oakland looming. Miller is making a case for a role somewhere on the staff down the stretch.

- It’s been a trying month for Josh Reddick but in the second inning he did something he had only managed to do one other time in August. He doubled. Reddick has been mired in a terrible slump, going 4-for-31 entering play on Thursday and with JD Drew getting closer to a possible return, Reddick needs to take advantage of his opportunities while they’re still available.

- Alfredo Aceves continued his run of strong performances with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, extending his scoreless streak to 8 1/3 innings. In his last five appearances, Aceves has allowed three hits while striking out 12 batters. Aceves seemed to struggle a bit with his command at times, but he made it through his stint unscathed.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE RED SOX

- After Saltalamacchia’s homer, the Sox bats went silent against Texas reliever Scott Feldman who retired seven straight batters and allowed just two hits and a walk over four innings.

- Carl Crawford extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single to lead off the fourth, but he also struck out twice and hit into a double play.

- Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia went 0-for-9 combined from the leadoff and clean-up spot, respectively. Four home runs from the rest of the lineup will usually help cover for the rare off night from those two.

Josh Beckett had 11 strikeouts and no walks over eight strong innings. (AP)

Kevin Youkilis drew a two-out, bases loaded walk in the top half of the ninth inning to break a 1-1 tie, and Jonathan Papelbon closed out the ninth to secure a 2-1 win and series sweep for the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon in Houston.

With one out in the ninth, Drew Sutton worked a pinch-hit walk in the 9 hole, and Jacoby Ellsbury put two men on with a single to right. Dustin Pedroia grounded into a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners with two out, and Astros reliever Mark Melancon intentionally walked Adrian Gonzalez to face Youkilis with the bases loaded and two outs. After getting ahead in the count, 3-0, Youkilis drew a five-pitch walk to bring in the winning run.

Josh Beckett returned to form after a tough outing against the Phillies, striking out a season-high 11 hitters while allowing just one run on five hits over eight innings.

Despite Beckett’s strong stat line, he got off to a rocky start on Sunday. After starting with a strikeout, he gave up three hard-hit balls in the first inning, including two singles and a sharp liner right to Youkilis at third. Beckett got out of trouble by popping up Matt Downs and went on to retire the next 11 batters he faced.

The Astros slowed Beckett’s roll in the fifth inning with a leadoff double from Brett Wallace and a pinch-hit RBI single from Angel Sanchez, tying the game at 1. Houston struggled to put a rally together against Beckett after the fifth, and the Boston starter was pulled after eight innings and 102 pitches.

Meanwhile, Boston was shut down by relievers Sergio Escalona, Wilton Lopez and David Carpenter up until the ninth inning. David Ortiz pinch hit for Navarro with one on and one out in the eighth, but his interleague rust showed as he grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

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Jack Cust and Matt Watson each homered in spoling Clay Buchholz‘ return from the disabled list on Wednesday as the Athletics’ bats once again proved stronger than those of the visiting team in a 6-4 Red Sox loss.

Jed Lowrie filled in admirably for Marco Scutaro in his first game of the season, while Adrian Beltre supplied the Sox with the team’s only homer. Though the Sox mustered four runs off of A’s starter Gio Gonzalez, the offense was silenced for much of the lefty’s start and failed to tack on a run after the 24-year-old’s departure.

With the loss, the Red Sox have opened their 10-game road trip by dropping two of three to the Athletics. They now head to Seattle for four with the Mariners before closing out the road trip with a three-game set in Anaheim.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE RED SOX

- Buchholz was clearly off his game in his return from the disabled list. He was charged with five runs on the day (two of which he left to Scott Atchison upon departing in the fifth inning) and was unable to escape the fifth inning.

Buchholz struggled in each of his four-plus frames, facing 24 batters en route to recording just 13 outs. The cleanest he looked in the game was in the fourth inning, as the only slip-up Buchholz had was a walk to Cliff Pennington after Rajai Davis reached on a throwing error by Lowrie.

For Buchholz, it was his shortest start of the season to not be cut short by injury. He went just one inning against the Giants on June 26 before leaving with a hamstring injury suffered while running the bases.

With the loss, Buchholz fell to 10-5 on the season. Despite giving up more than a run per inning on Wednesday, his earned run average remains an impressive 2.81.

- Gonzalez didn’t have much trouble handling a struggling Red Sox offense, turning in a quality start and cruising through the second, third, and fourth innings.

After allowing an RBI single to Beltre in the first inning, Gonzalez settled down nicely, escaping the 28-pitch inning without further damage and allowing no Red Sox hitters to reach in the following three innings.

The Sox were able to tack on a run in the fifth inning, but the frame that proved to be accompanied by most the most trouble for was the sixth. After allowing a leadoff single to Kevin Youkilis, Gonzalez served up a two-run homer to Beltre. On the day Gonzalez gave up four runs on seven hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out three.

-The Red Sox failed to make the most of a struggling Henry Rodriguez in the seventh inning while trailing, 6-4. The flame-throwing right-hander was routinely bordering on walking the Sox’ hitters, as he ran the count full to four of the five batters he saw.

Though Lowrie and David Ortiz were able to walk in succession, the Sox didn’t put any runners on base against Rodriguez until there were two out. Youkilis ended the inning by flying to deep right… on a full count.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE RED SOX

-Jed Lowrie had a promising return, though not in the field. Lowrie committed the throwing error that put Davis on base in the fourth inning. The error didn’t come back to haunt the Red Sox in the inning, and much of the rest of Lowrie’s performance was solid.

Coming off a lengthy stay on the disabled list due to mononucleosis, Lowrie began his day by drawing a walk in the first inning and scoring on a Beltre single. He worked the count full in the third inning before flying out to right.

Lowrie’s most valuable contribution came in the fifth inning, when he plated the second run of the day in the form of Bill Hall on a single to left center off Gonzalez, who had stymied the Red Sox lineup for much of the day. He walked in the seventh inning off Rodriguez with two down, sustaining the inning with the team trailing and making way for David Ortiz to also walk.

- Though he entered Wednesday hitless in four of his last five games, Hall stood out from Boston regulars on a day that didn’t require much to do so. Batting eighth, Hall broke up a string of 10 Red Sox hitters who were retired by Gonzalez by doubling to right center to lead off the fifth inning. He scored on a single from Lowrie.

- Beltre had a big game offensively for the Red Sox, accounting for three of the team’s four runs. Beltre has now hit in four straight games, three of which have been multi-hit performances. With 16 homers on the season, he has now doubled the eight he hit in 2009, his final season with the Mariners. Barring injury, 2010 should be his seventh 20-homer campaign in 13 seasons.