Walking in and out of Baltimore

The Sox swept the Orioles in a weekend series, aided in no small measure by the Orioles' pitching staff, which issued 26 walks to Sox hitters, including 14 in Friday's 14-8 win.

Curt Schilling (2-0) once again looked good, going seven strong innings in Saturday's 2-1 win, yeilding only one run on three hits and two walks. Mike Timlin and Jonathan Papelbon (3 saves) appear to be a solid back of the bullpen, although Keith Foulke remains an option as a setup man. Foulke appeared in two games, and on Sunday struck out two of the three hitters he faced.

Tim Wakefield (1-1) rebounded nicely in his second start Sunday, striking out four in six innings, and struck out the side in the sixth inning after putting two runners in scoring position. The Sox went on to win 4-1.

Offensively, Trot Nixon was impressive, hitting a homer and driving in four runs Friday night. Nixon has 7 RBI in the early going. And Jason Varitek accounted for both Sox runs Saturday, scoring one and driving in the other.

The Sox return home 5-1, atop the AL East. They open up Fenway tomorrow with a three-game series against Toronto.