``He poked his head in earlier today,'' said Francona, ``and he kind of just said in passing, I understand my responsibility today. He didn't say it flippantly, but he knew we were in pretty deep (Tuesday) night.''

Then, Wakefield proceeded to provide quality to go along with quantity. He retired the first 15 hitters he faced, needing just 39 pitches for the first five innings, a measure of his efficiency and dominance.

``I kind of eased into it,'' Wakefield said. ``They were really aggressive early and then something clicked in the second or third inning where I really felt like, `Let's keep going.' ''

To start the sixth inning, Mike Lowell bobbled a relatively routine chopper hit by Kurt Suzuki, ending any hope of a perfect game. But the third baseman's error didn't distract Wakefield, who retired the next six A's to take a no-hit bid into the eighth. After Mark Ellis walked and Travis Buck popped out, Suzuki slapped a ground single into left field, spoiling Wakefield's bid for history after 7 1/3 innings.

``I'm not disappointed,'' Wakefield said after allowing two runs on four hits in the complete-game, 8-2 victory. ``Obviously, it's something that's great to try to get, but the biggest thing was to try to preserve our bullpen. It would have been nice to have a no-no, but you have to be more lucky than good sometimes in that aspect. It didn't happen, but I was very pleased with being able to save the bullpen today.''

Wakefield has always prided himself on being a good teammate above all else. The Red Sox won't soon forget his selfless action in Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS when, sacrificing his scheduled start in Game 4, he took the ball after starter Bronson Arroyo got shelled by the New York Yankees and preserved the bullpen.

The Sox' epic comeback didn't start until Dave Roberts' ninth-inning stolen base in Game 4, but some will tell you it had its origin the night before when Wakefield put his team ahead of himself.

In his 15 years with the Red Sox , Wakefield has had some other close brushes with no-hitters. He had one going against Oakland on June 9, 1995 - also for 7 1/3 innings - before Stan Javier ruined the fun. On June 19, 2001, Wakefield was a mere two outs away before Tampa Bay's Randy Winn singled to break up the effort.

Had Wakefield gotten five more outs yesterday without allowing a hit, he would have become the second-oldest pitcher - at 42 years, 256 days - to throw a no-hitter. Nolan Ryan threw two in his 40s - once at 43 and 131 days on June 11, 1990, and again, on May 1, 1991, when he was 44 and 90 days.

So Wakefield had to be satisfied with snapping his team's three-game losing streak, avoiding a sweep of the series with Oakland and sending the Sox home with a modicum of momentum.

On this day, that was good enough.

``I'm stating the obvious when I say that we desperately needed that outing from him,'' Francona said, ``and it was welcome. He did a great job.''

Wakefield recalled a start vs. the White Sox on June 10, 1996, when the Red Sox were similarly shorthanded and he stayed on the mound for a 16-hit pounding.

``I told (Francona), `Listen, I understand the circumstances and I just wanted you to know: Whatever happens, don't take me out; let me keep going,' '' Wakefield said.

Which, when you think about it, might serve as an apt description of Wakefield's long career.

- smcadam@bostonherald.com