They've opened Fenway Park 93 times, but never in his previous 10 seasons with the club has that privilege belonged to Tim Wakefield.

Today the honor will be his, when the 38-year-old knuckleballer takes to the Fenway mound for the 200th time. In the process Wakefield will pass Roger Clemens (199 appearances) for second-most by any pitcher at Fenway, trailing only Bob Stanley (321). This will be Wakefield's 126th start, to go with 74 relief appearances.

A win today would tie Wakefield with Stanley for seventh on the Red Sox all-time list with 115. Eight strikeouts would tie him with Cy Young for third (1,341), behind Pedro Martinez (1,683) and Clemens (2,590).

"I know he's excited and honored," said Sox bench coach Brad Mills, who managed his fourth and final game in Terry Francona's absence. "The people are going to appreciate that as well."

Wakefield refused to talk yesterday, as he always does the day before a start. But his recent showings against the Yankees speak for themselves.

Since Grady Little restored Wakefield to the rotation in 2003, he is 5-2 in 10 starts against the New York, postseason included, with a 2.80 ERA. He has pitched six or more innings in nine of those starts and only once allowed more than three earned runs.

Wakefield had hoped for a contract extension before this season, but the team showed little interest in offering one. The Sox already have five starters under contractual control for 2006. But, at about $5 million per season (what Wakefield probably would want), he's a good value in the current market.

Consider that the Yankees are paying their pitching staff $96.6 million this season, a figure recently pointed out by USA Today. The Dodgers rank second at $53.8 million and the Sox third at $48.9 million.