BOSTON (Ticker) -- Derek Lowe again had his way with the Baltimore Orioles.
Lowe pitched seven innings and combined with Tim Wakefield on a six-hitter and Nomar Garciaparra homered as the Boston Red Sox earned a split of their abbreviated two-game series with a 2-0 victory over the Orioles.
Baltimore roughed up Pedro Martinez on Saturday night, posting 10 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Boston ace. But the Orioles again had no answer for Lowe, who was 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA in four starts against the Orioles last year.
Lowe (2-1), who owned a 7.94 ERA in splitting two starts against Tampa Bay and Toronto, dominated the Orioles, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out five.
"I felt comfortable today. For whatever reason I have felt petty comfortable when facing this team," said Lowe, a 21-game winner last season. "When you get results like this it gives you a lot of confidence. You feel like you are getting back to where you were. There is still a long way to go."
"Derek is one of those pitchers just like Pedro Martinez," said Boston manager Grady Little. "Every time they take the mound you feel like they're going to have a start like that. That's certainly the feeling that we get."
Wakefield gave the beleaguered Boston bullpen a much-needed boost, recording his first save and just the second by a Boston reliever this season. But Boston fans again had to sweat as Wakefield allowed the first two batters to reach in the ninth before working out of a jam.
"At this point I don't think anyone really cares who closes out games," Lowe said of Boston's bullpen by committee. "The bullpen is very important in a team that is trying to win a lot of games like we are. It is very important to win games when you have leads."
Garciaparra hit his third homer of the season in the first inning, belting a 2-1 pitch from Rodrigo Lopez (0-2) over the left field fence. It was the first homer hit into the newly installed stands above the "Green Monster" in left field.
The Red Sox, who were wearing their new red uniform tops for the first time, added an insurance run in the seventh when Trot Nixon doubled, went to third on a groundout and scored on a single to right field by Jason Varitek off B.J. Ryan. The single snapped an 0-for-13 slump for Varitek.
Lopez allowed both runs and five hits and left after 6 1/3 innings after he split a nail on the middle finger of his pitching hand.
"It's been that way since my last start," Lopez said. "I've never cut the nail that short before, so I've felt it. We'll have to look at it this week and if it doesn't get better, then I'll be concerned. It's been split since the last start and I had Super Glue on it. It just went to far."
First baseman Shea Hillenbrand, normally a third baseman, helped diffuse a Baltimore rally in the top of the seventh. After a leadoff single by Tony Batista, Hllenbrand made a diving catch of a line drive by Jay Gibbons and stepped on first to complete a double play.
"They're pretty much reaction plays," Hillenbrand said. "I'm feeling more and more comfortable every day. It's just a situation where you have a different angle coming off the bat (at first), no different duties."
The double play proved valuable as Lowe allowed a pair of singles before Deivi Cruz grounded into a force play to end the inning.
Wakefield allowed a single to David Segui and a walk to Batitsta in the ninth before striking out Gibbons, getting Marty Cordova on a popout and Surhoff on a groundout.
The loss ended a modest two-game winning streak for Baltimore, and manager Mike Hargrove was frustrated that the ball did not bounce his way.
"In the last inning we got two on and nobody out, and Surhoff hits a ball that hits the mound and kicks straight over to Garciaparra," Hargrove said. "You battle all day long and you get a well-pitched game. I thought we swung the bats fairly decently off Lowe."
Boston's Kevin Millar doubled in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.
Segui had three hits for Baltimore.
The series was shortened to two games after Friday's opener was postponed by rain and was unable to be played as the first game of a day-night doubleheader Saturday.
