Boston @ Kansas City preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 19, 2011 ) Boston 7, Kansas City 1

THE STORY: Tim Wakefield may be one of baseball's oldest players, but he hasn't forgotten what happened the last time he tangled with the Kansas City Royals. Wakefield looks to atone for that gruesome performance – and earn his 200th career win in the process – as he leads the Boston Red Sox into the third of a four-game series at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday night. He'll be opposed by struggling righthander Felipe Paulino.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, NESN, Fox Sports Kansas City.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox RH Tim Wakefield (6-5, 4.90 ERA) vs. Royals RH Felipe Paulino (1-9, 4.30 ERA).

Wakefield has given the Red Sox quality innings over the past month, though it hasn't shown up in the win column. The 45-year-old knuckleballer is just 1-2 over his last five starts despite going at least seven innings in three of them. He tossed his first complete game since 2009 last time out, charged with five runs on nine hits in a 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

Wakefield has no beef when compared to Paulino, who has one of the worst career won-lost records in the majors. The 27-year-old righthander lost his last outing, surrendering five runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings en route to a 7-4 defeat at the hands of the New York Yankees. That dropped him to 7-30 for his career, including a 2-18 mark over the past two seasons.

ABOUT THE RED SOX (76-48): Dustin Pedroia may only be 5-foot-8, but the Royals see him as one of the most intimidating hitters in the league – or at least they did in Friday's 7-1 Boston victory. Pedroia, coming off a three-hit, three-RBI showing in the series opener, was walked intentionally in the first inning and again in the third frame. Both times, Jed Lowrie followed with singles to load the bases – and both times, rookie Ryan Lavarnway stamped out the rally. The Red Sox didn't need much from Pedroia, as every other starter in the lineup had at least one hit in Friday's lopsided victory.

ABOUT THE ROYALS (51-75): Kansas City hasn't seen Wakefield since May 2010, when they torched him for nine runs on 12 hits over 3 2/3 innings. The highlight was a fourth-inning grand slam from Yuniesky Betancourt on a knuckleball that simply didn't knuckle. Betancourt isn't around anymore, but the current Kansas City roster has fared well on its own against the Red Sox hurler. Royals hitters are batting a collective .380 off him, led by the performances of Alex Gordon (4-for-7, RBI) and Melky Cabrera (6-for-14, 3 RBIs). Kansas City could use a strong showing Saturday, having hit just 12-for-60 so far in the series.

FINAL PITCH: Wakefield is 7-4 in 15 career appearances (12 starts) at Kauffman Stadium. Only Fenway Park (97), Tropicana Field (10) and Three Rivers Stadium (seven) have yielded as many or more victories.