Tim Wakefield's signature pitch is far from predictable. The ups and downs to his season, on the other hand, are not.

In each of Wakefield's 11 seasons with the Red Sox, there have been good stretches and poor ones. Right now, there's little doubt that Wakefield is in one of his downturns.

The knuckleballer saw his losing streak stretched to four straight last night with a rough outing against the Baltimore Orioles. Wakefield yielded three homers -- two in as many batters -- as the Orioles cuffed him around for seven runs in just 5 1/3 innings in a 9-3 pasting of the Sox.

Wakefield has lost four consecutive decisions for the first time since July 12-28 of 2000. Over the last four, Wakefield has compiled an 8.74 E.R.A. The dip comes after Wakefield opened the season with a 4-1, 3.18 start in his first seven outings.

"I'm just not getting the job done right now," Wakefield said. "Tonight was one of those nights where you try to battle through it. You try to keep us in the game as long as possible. I had one clean inning there (a 1-2-3 fourth) and after that I just couldn't keep it going.

"Tonight, I just didn't have very good stuff at all. I tried to battle the whole game. Obviously, I didn't do a very good job."

The Orioles jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second when No. 9 hitter Geronimo Gil drove a flat knuckler deep into the moster seats with two aboard. The long ball came back to hurt Wakefield in the next inning, too, when he gave up back-to-back homers to Miguel Tejada and Sammy Sosa.

Still, a patient Terry Francona hoped for a reversal of fortune.

"With our bullpen the way we've gotten into it," the manager said, "we definitely wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, as we usually do with guys like Wakefield anyway. He's the one guy who can go out, misfire a couple of times and find it in a one- or two-pitch sequence and be very good for a couple of innings."

Alas, last night was not one of those nights. He was nicked for another run in the fifth on a run-scoring single by B.J. Surhoff and one more in the sixth on an RBI double from Melvin Mora before being lifted.

"I was searching the whole time," Wakefield said, "trying to find out what was going on. I just couldn't figure it out. Sometimes it's a feel thing. You just don't have a very good feel. I didn't have a very good feel for it tonight."

"He probably made a couple of mistakes he'd like back," said Trot Nixon of Wakefield. "Any pitcher tells you, you make mistakes against a good team, you pay for them."

Blanked by Sidney Ponson over the first six innings, it wasn't as if the Sox didn't have their chances. They had leadoff singles in three of the first four innings and four of the first six.

In the seventh, the Sox began piecing together some offense. An error by Tejada, two walks, a sacrifice fly by Johnny Damon and a two-run single by Manny Ramirez brought the Sox to within 7-3, and when lefty reliever Steve Kline walked pinch-hitter Jay Payton, the Sox had the bases loaded and the potential tying run at the plate.

But that run was represented by rookie catcher Kelly Shoppach and not Jason Varitek, who was lifted in the top of the seventh. With an eye toward this afternoon's day game, Francona thought it best to rest Varitek in a 7-0 game.

That move backfired when Shoppach faced Todd Williams and rolled out to second, stranding three and effectively ending the Sox' night.

"(Shoppach) had a good at-bat, worked the count full," said Nixon. "Obviously, that's not the result he wanted. It was a tough matchup. Williams made a good pitch on him. 'Shop' will be OK. He's probably pressing a little bit to get that first hit."

"Believe me," said Francona, "I'm aware of the situation 'Shop' came up in. I guess that's the best thing I can say -- I'm aware. I know. You try and do the best you can. . . . I want him to catch tomorrow. I want him to catch a lot. Like I said, I'm aware. I think if I said I regretted it, I'd be wrong. I don't do anything without thinking it through, but at the same time, I'm aware of the situation he came up in."

Bronson Arroyo, who was chased early Monday and had to be bailed out by long man John Halama, repaid the favor last night, pitching in relief for 1 1/3 innings rather than throwing in a side session.

But when Matt Mantei walked two in the ninth and Alan Embree gave up consecutive sacrifice flies, things went from bad to worse for the Sox, who dropped four full games in back of Baltimore.