Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Fans chanted Tim Wakefield’s name. A teammate sprayed him with champagne. It was about time.

Baseball’s oldest player earned his elusive 200th victory and the Boston Red Sox slugged their way to their first win in a week, 18-6 over the Toronto Blue Jays thanks to an 18-hit outburst.

The 45-year-old knuckleballer was winless in his previous seven outings. His team’s playoff prospects dimmed with losses in its last five games. But on Tuesday night, Boston set a season high for runs and moved four games ahead of Tampa Bay, a 4-2 loser to Baltimore, in the AL wild-card race.

“There was some genuine happiness, probably for us, too,” manager Terry Francona said. “It seemed like we’d been waiting for that win as long as Wake’s been waiting for his.”

The Red Sox needed the victory badly after their lead over the Rays had dropped from nine games to three over the previous nine days. And Wakefield was eager to end the long wait — 0-3 in seven outings since his last win on July 24 — to become the 108th pitcher with 200 wins.

“I’m kind of speechless,” said Wakefield, who signed with Boston in 1995 after being released by Pittsburgh, “but I’m very grateful that I’ve been able to wear this uniform for as long as I have and reached a milestone that I thought I’d never reach.”

(Story Continues…)

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