Pedro Martinez may be the unquestioned ace of the staff and Derek Lowe may have more wins, but it wasn't exactly coincidental that it fell to Tim Wakefield's lot to snap the Red Sox out of a four-game losing streak. That's the business he's in.

Yesterday's win was the knuckleballer's ninth of the season, and five of those nine wins have followed losses by the Boston team. This might not reflect Roger Clemens-level dominance, but it does suggest that Wakefield's consistency makes him a reliable antidote to the bane of all baseball teams, the protracted losing streak.

``He's been very consistent,'' said Sox manager Grady Little. ``And this year, along with Pedro, they've had a little trouble getting a whole lot of run support, but he got enough out there today.''

Saturday had been Wakefield's 37th birthday, and yesterday he celebrated another milestone as well: It was his 100th victory in a Boston uniform. In the team's century of existence, only eight pitchers have recorded more. Wakefield is five shy of overtaking No. 8 on the list, Lefty Grove, and while the 192 of all-time co-leaders Cy Young and Clemens is probably out of reach, at Wakefield's current pace he could overtake the likes of Smokey Joe Wood (117), Luis Tiant (122), and Mel Parnell (123) to climb into undisputed possession of third place by the time his present contract expires in 2005.

Wakefield's best season with the Sox may have been his first, when he went 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA. He won 17 games in 1998. Though he's shuttled between the starting rotation and the bullpen in recent years, his 100 wins display his consistency.

``I couldn't have done it without my teammates on the field,'' Wakefield said. ``They did a tremendous job today scoring me runs. As the starting pitcher I'd liked to have gone longer than I did, but I was fortunate enough to get my 100th win as a Red Sox and I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment.

``I'm going into my ninth season here, and recording 100 wins is a pretty special feat,'' Wakefield said. ``It's an accomplishment you don't ever expect to get to, but I'm just fortunate to have been here as long as I have.''

Going into the sixth yesterday, Luis Matos' third-inning homer was the only hit Wakefield had surrendered, but when the Orioles touched him up for three hits and a pair of runs, Little wasted little time going to the bullpen. All Wakefield had to do then was sweat (literally) out two hours' worth of rain delays as thunderstorms battered steamy Camden Yards before the victory was official.

``It was pretty tough, but I had confidence our team could hold the lead,'' said Wakefield. ``You go into these series trying to win the series, then you lose the first two against the Orioles. But our offense was able to score some runs. It's a huge win for us going home with an off-day, and we've got a pretty tough schedule next week.''