MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Tim Wakefield got the victory, but he
credited reliever Alan Embree with winning the game.

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Embree pitched the Red Sox out of a bases-loaded jam in the
seventh inning to help preserve Wakefield's win as the Boston Red
Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Saturday night.

``He did a good job picking me up there,'' Wakefield said. ``I got in a little trouble, put the team in jeopardy, and Alan did an outstanding job striking out the side.''

With his team leading 3-0, Wakefield walked Doug Mientkiewicz to
load the bases in the seventh and reliever Bob Howry walked in a run.

``I told (Howry and Embree) when they came into the game, if they can get out of that thing with just giving up one run, that's a heck of a job,'' Red Sox manager Grady Little said. ``When you're out there with the bases loaded and no outs, there's not many worse situations than that.''

But Embree came in and struck out A.J. Pierzynski, Luis Rivas
and pinch-hitter Bobby Kielty. The left-hander threw nothing but fastballs.

``You've got to make them prove they can hit the fastball before you go to the other stuff. You don't want to give them a chance,'' Embree said.

Embree got all three batters swinging.

``He absolutely pounded his fastballs in there,'' Twins manager
Ron Gardenhire said.

Embree's 98 mph pitches were especially tough for the Twins to
hit since they spent the entire game trying to adjust to
Wakefield's slow-moving knuckleballs.

Wakefield (7-4) frustrated the Twins for six innings, allowing
just four hits. The knuckleballer, who also allowed four hits in
his last outing against the Twins, walked three and struck out four
to send Minnesota to its ninth loss in 12 games.

``Wake pitched a great game,'' Embree said. ``I just didn't want
him to go out without a decision. I take pride in getting my
teammates out of jams.''

A night after defeating Pedro Martinez, the Twins came up with
empty swings, striking out 12 times against Boston's pitchers.

``It's tough, you come off of Martinez throwing 95 mph to
Wakefield throwing 68,'' Dustan Mohr said. ``It's a tough adjustment to make. You don't know which way it's going to go -- different speeds, side-to-side, up-and-down -- the only thing you know is it's going to be slow.''

Doug Mirabelli added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in
the eighth.

Rickey Henderson went 3-for-4, including a home run and a
double. His solo shot in the ninth made it 5-1.

Twins starter Johan Santana (6-5) settled down after struggling
early. The left-hander threw five straight balls to start the game
and gave up five hits while walking three and striking out six. He
allowed two earned runs and threw 98 pitches in five innings.

``Too many pitches,'' Gardenhire said.

Henderson scored Boston's first run on a wild pitch by Santana
in the first inning.

Game notes
The Twins sent OF Michael Cuddyer to Triple-A Edmonton after the game and recalled slugger Matthew LeCroy. ... Boston OF Cliff Floyd sat out because of a right hip flexor and injuries to
his groin and right Achilles tendon. ... Twins reliever Jack
Cressend's wife, Katy, gave birth to a son, Cole Gilbert, Friday.
The right-hander is expected to return to his rehab assignment with
Class A Fort Myers on Monday or Tuesday. ... Twins SS Cristian
Guzman extended his hitting streak to a season-high 15 games. ...
Juan Rincon picked off Henderson at second in the seventh inning
with a nice throw to Guzman. ... With his stolen base in the
seventh, Torii Hunter became the fifth player in club history to
reach the 20 HR-20 stolen base achievement. ... Twins starters are
2-4 with a 2.05 ERA over their last seven starts.