BOSTON (AP) – A day off finally did what the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals couldn’t do: stop Boston from winning.

After sweeping three-game series against those teams with outstanding hitting, fielding and starting pitching, the Red Sox got to rest Thursday before starting a three-game home series against another National League team, the Philadelphia Phillies.

When Josh Beckett takes the mound tonight, he’ll be backed by baseball’s best fielding team and supported by an offense that is hitting .300 in its last 31 games after batting .271 in its first 31.

“This is a ballclub that works a lot on hitting,” AL RBI leader David Ortiz said after hitting a grand slam in Wednesday night’s 9-3 win over the Nationals. “You see guys that you don’t think would be able to handle it when they first came to this team and, out of nowhere, you see that the guy is putting up some good numbers, good offensive numbers.”

Lately, Trot Nixon’s numbers have been the most impressive.

Healthy all season after battling back and other injuries for most of his career, the right fielder leads the team with a .333 batting average after his second straight three-hit game Wednesday night. Nixon also has walked 37 times with just 21 strikeouts in 216 at bats.

“He’s getting on base a lot, getting good at bats, seeing a lot of pitches” manager Terry Francona said. “He showed up (at spring training) ready to play, felt good about himself. He’s healthy. We haven’t seen that in a couple of years.”

The Red Sox (42-28) lead the majors with 303 walks and are second with a .368 on base percentage, just behind the New York Yankees’ .369. During their current six-game winning streak – which followed a three-game series in which they were swept in Minnesota – they’ve outscored the Braves and Nationals 45-20.

During that stretch, five starters pitched six innings without allowing more than two runs. Rookie Jon Lester did it twice, allowing one run in six innings in a 4-1 win over Atlanta that started the streak and in Wednesday night’s victory over Washington.

“You know if you limit the other team to a couple of runs, you have a chance to win the game,” he said. “And if you have an off night and give up four or five and just keep them in the game, you have a chance to win.”

The rebuilt defense doesn’t give opponents many extra chances. The infield of first baseman Kevin Youkilis, second baseman Mark Loretta, shortstop Alex Gonzalez and third baseman Mike Lowell has just 13 errors in 70 games. Gonzalez has one in his 50 games. And the team’s current 10-game errorless streak is Boston’s longest in 20 years.

That’s one reason general manager Theo Epstein thinks right-handed starter Jason Johnson, a ground-ball pitcher obtained Wednesday in a trade with Cleveland, can turn around his poor season. He’s scheduled to make his first start for the Red Sox on July 1 in Florida, the next time they will need a fifth starter.

“There have been a lot of balls that have gotten through the (Indians) infield,” Epstein said. “We hope that our infield defense, which we think is pretty good, might help him out a little bit.”

Before then, the Red Sox will try to improve on their 8-1 interleague record against a Phillies team that has won two of its last 10 games and is two games under .500 but is better on the road than at home. Boston is a season-high 14 games over .500 and leads the Yankees in the AL East by two games.

And, if the game is close, the Red Sox can go to a rested Jonathan Papelbon, who hasn’t pitched since Sunday and has 23 saves in 24 opportunities with a 0.25 ERA.

“When you put it together like we are now, it’s great,” Ortiz said, “because that gives you chances to win a lot of games.”

AP-ES-06-22-06 1855EDT