Wakefield wasn't quite as masterful yesterday as he was nearly no-hitting the A's last week, but he didn't need to be. He tossed his second straight complete game - joining an elite group of pitchers to do so after their 42nd birthday - and helped the Red Sox cruise to their sixth straight victory, a 10-1 blowout of the Twins in a rain-shortened Game 1 of their doubleheader.

The Sox also took the nightcap, 7-3.

``His knuckleball was really good today,'' catcher George Kottaras said. ``It was really moving.''

Buoyed by two-run homers in the first, second and third innings, Wakefield didn't have to do much more than throw strikes and let his defense take it from there. Mixing in the occasional fastball and curve, Wakefield allowed one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out four before the game was called because of rain with two on and four runs in for the rampaging Red Sox offense.

``There are a lot of guys in that lineup that are really hot right now,'' Wakefield said. ``It made my job a lot easier. I was able to mix in pitches I don't normally throw. I got a strikeout on a fastball today, strikeout on a curveball. I was able to pitch to the scoreboard.''

Most of Wakefield's offense came off the bats of Kevin Youkilis, Nick Green and Mike Lowell, who supplied the home runs. Green added a two-run double on the final swing before the game was called, J.D. Drew went 3-for-3, and David Ortiz and Jacoby Ellsbury had two hits each.

``Good hitters are always going to hit, no matter what,'' Ortiz said. ``I don't care what anybody has to say. Good hitters are always going to hit. You could have a whole bad month and then you have a good month, not even a good month, you have two good weeks, and that bad month is in the past because everybody knows that you're hitting. That's how the game goes, period.''

Wakefield pitched out of his only jam in the fifth, loading the bases with one out and allowing a run before wisely letting a swinging bunt roll just foul up the third base line. He then popped up Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer.

The complete game puts him in some exclusive company. The last time a player as old as the 42-year-old Wakefield threw back-to-back complete games was 1992, when White Sox knuckleballer Charlie Hough turned the trick.

The others are Hall of Famers Warren Spahn, Early Wynn, Steve Carlton, Phil Niekro and Gaylord Perry. Wakefield's not going to the Hall of Fame, but he's had a nice career and may go down as the last of his kind - a starting knuckleballer who pitches into his 40s.

``When your name is mentioned in that kind of company, it's pretty special,'' Wakefield said. ``To be mentioned with Roger Clemens, Cy Young, Luis Tiant, all the great Red Sox of the past and Gaylord Perry and Warren Spahn, it's pretty cool.'' - jtomase@bostonherald.com