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David Ortiz (right) and Tim Wakefield talk while walking off the field in the fifth inning Monday. (Elise Amendola/AP)

Unable to find a cure for their suddenly struggling offense, the Red Sox were lifted by the steady deception of Wakefield's knuckleball. He twirled six shutout innings en route to a 3-1 victory over the Tigers in the opener of a seven-game homestand.

After a tough 2-4 road trip -- punctuated by a devastating 13-inning loss Saturday in Philadelphia -- Wakefield came through in a big way.

In so doing, he improved to 6-3 on the season and earned his 97th win in a Sox uniform, placing him ninth on the team's all-time list.

"He did a great job," Sox second baseman Todd Walker said. "He was as on tonight as I've seen him. He had them off-balance all night. They went up being aggressive and just weren't squaring any balls up. They didn't hit any balls hard. He wasn't behind in the count and didn't have any long innings."

It turned out that the only thing getting in Wakefield's way was his health. He was forced out of the game after one pitch in the top of the seventh inning, thanks to a strain in his lower back.

He is listed as day-to-day, so it won't be known until later in the week if he can make his next start on Saturday against the Marlins.

The injury actually occurred in the fifth inning, when Wakefield bent over awkwardly on a bunt between the pitchers mound and first base. But that didn't stop him from getting out of a first-and-third, no-out jam in the fifth. Or from striking out the side in the sixth.

Kevin Millar, who sparked the Red Sox offense with a home run and two RBIs, heard about Wakefield during his days in the National League. But he has a better appreciation after watching his new teammate up close the last few months.

"It's my first year playing with him, but now you see how valuable he is," Millar said. "He goes in the bullpen when you need him to, he starts, and he gives you consistent starts every time he takes the mound. It was a great performance. This guy went out there and threw strikes all night. This guy has been consistent for years."

After Wakefield's forced exit, left-handed reliever Alan Embree stifled the Tigers over two hitless innings. Mike Timlin had some anxious moments in the ninth, giving up two hits, a walk and a run, but settled down to earn his second save.

"Any time you give your starter a chance to win and keep your team in it and get them back into the dugout as quickly as possible, it does give you a lot of confidence," Embree said.

With the victory, the Sox improved to 42-32, putting them two games behind the Yankees and keeping them one in back of the Blue Jays in the AL East.

In the early innings, the Sox carried over their hitting woes from the rough road trip. The game was scoreless heading to the bottom of the fifth.

They pretty much scraped out a run in the bottom of the fifth off Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman. Doug Mirabelli led off with a double to left and rookie Freddy Sanchez executed perfectly with a grounder to second. The attention to fundamentals continued when Johnny Damon lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Mirabelli.

In the sixth, the Sox kept up the momentum. Manny Ramirez stroked a one-out single off the Green Monster and scooted to third on David Ortiz's single to right. Millar brought home Ramirez with a single to right, giving the Sox a 2-0 lead.

For Millar, the RBI knock was a welcomed reversal of fortune after striking out looking in his first two at-bats.

"Bonderman has great stuff," Millar said. "The first at-bat he threw some good breaking balls on me. The second at-bat, I go up there guessing and he threw a fastball by me. The third at-bat, I went up there and it was first and third and I tried to hit the ball to right field and not worry about the left field fence. I was able to get a good piece of wood on the ball and got a base-hit to right."

In the eighth, Millar blasted a two-out, solo homer over the Green Monster, his 12th of the season. That bumped the lead to 3-0 and enabled the Sox to have a little breathing room heading into the ninth.

"We needed that extra run," Millar said. "When we're scuffling to score runs, any run is big."

It wasn't the most artistic of victories, but the Sox aren't in the position to be grading their wins.

"We always focus on wins and losses around here," Sox manager Grady Little said. "What we do like about this ballclub is that they play hard. We go out and give the effort every single day."

Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.