Wakefield, Dice-K are sharp for Boston

WASHINGTON — Tim Wakefield threw four scoreless innings in his final tuneup Saturday, Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed one run over four innings in his longest outing of the spring and the Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Nationals, 6-1.

Wakefield allowed three singles, struck out two and walked none, throwing 35 of 45 pitches for strikes.

“(Wakefield) was pretty good,” Boston Manager Terry Francona said. “He looked at me when I said, ‘That’s enough’ like ‘What, are you crazy?’ He was good, though. He was in the zone.”

Matsuzaka, slated to start the season on the disabled list after being slowed this spring by back and neck trouble, gave up two hits, walked three and hit a batter.

“Today I felt, even though I wasn’t necessarily pitching at my best, I was still able to get outs and figure my way around hitters,” Matsuzaka said.

Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer in the first, and J.D. Drew had a solo shot in the second off Craig Stammen.

• Boston sent outfielder Josh Reddick to Triple-A Pawtucket.

• Curt Schilling was hired by ESPN to work with the network as a baseball analyst.

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