That's more like it: Sox post impressive victory in game #2

Sox Box
Score: Sox 7, Royals 1
WP: Beckett (1-0)
LP: Odalis Perez (0-1)
HRs: BOS-Youk (1)

SUMMARY: Josh Beckett pitched 5 strong innings and kept the ball in the yard on a cold night in Kansas City, JD Drew and Mike Lowell figure prominently in the game offensively & defensively and the pen holds the lead as Boston evens its record after two games

HERO: Beckett- could also have been Drew or Lowell, but the power pitcher silenced the critics by picking the team up after the disappointing loss on Monday; although he wasn't spectacular- 5 IP, 2H, 1ER, 4BB, 5Ks, 94 pitches- he was good enough to shut down a Royals team that had battered Curt Schilling & the pen on Opening Day.

GOAT(s): Lugo/Coco- in two games the new & former leadoff men are a combined 2-13 with 1 run scored, 1 RBI and 2 walks; so much for offensive catalysts

KEY MOMENT: bot 3rd, Sox up 3-1, 2 on & 2 out
After giving the Sox the early lead with a 2-run double, Gold Glove third baseman Mike Lowell made errors on consecutive plays that put Beckett in an unnecessary bind. As Mike Sweeney knocked a Beckett pitch down the rightfield line, JD Drew raced over and made a beautiful snag to rob an extra base hit and preserve the 2-run lead

REVIEW:
When I got to my son's Little League field after Monday's opening loss, the Yankee Lover on the team ribbed me rigorously, asking me if I still believed my assertion that Boston would take the AL East from the Stanks this year. "It's only 1 game" I responded to him. "Now if Beckett loses tonight, then we gotta start worrying!"

Luckily for me and all of RSN we it didn't come to that as we saw the kind of stuff we are expecting from the team this season: timely hitting, terrific defense, quality starting pitching and a win over a team considered to be in the bottom half off the league. Thanks to Beckett, Drew and Lowell the Sox were able to pull their record even on the young season and regain some confidence and swagger lost after the opening day debacle.

Drew has been able to keep the wolves at bay by beginning his Sox career with big hits and great defense. Monday he made a nice running catch to the cavernous Kauffman Stadium centerfield to take away a hit, and last night his spectacular catch saved the game for Boston. The kid who was crucified before he ever put on a Boston uniform, and whose deal took a mind-boggling 55 days to complete, has wrapped 3 hits in his first 8 at bats around that stellar D, and that's with Papi & Manny hitting only .166 combined, immediately endearing himself to Fenway's fickle fans. A lot can happen between now & the home opener on Monday, though.

Lowell had what can best be described as an adventurous day for Boston; his first inning double off Odalis the world traveler Perez scored Manny & Drew and gave the Sox a quick 3-0 lead. But as quickly as Lowell giveth, he almost taketh away.

In the third inning he did something that he has only done one other time in his career: make two errors in one inning. The fact that he made them on consecutive plays is even more astounding. The other fact that he made another error for a total of three in the game makes me think either someone has a voodoo doll of him somewhere, or the infield at Kauffman must be horrific (I know, one of the errors was on a throw, but I'm trying to figure this oddity out!)

After Drew bailed him out with no damage done the Sox would tack on RBIs by Tek (sac fly), Youk (Boston's first HR of 2007-who had Youk in the pool?), and Lugo's 1st Red Sox ribbie, on a single in the 8th. Beckett would only make it through 5 innings on a chilly Missouri night before giving way to the pen, but thankfully this time the relievers got the job done; the law firm of Lopez, Snyder, Pineiro & Romero combined for 4 innings of 1-hit, shutout ball, while Boston's lineup tattooed KC's starter (4 R, 5 H in 5.2) and its pen (3 R, 3H, 4 BBs in 3 IP).

An all around good showing in Game 2, and now we get to see what our $101 million mega-hyped import can do when Matsuzaka makes his debut tomorrow afternoon. The Sox are back, baby!

NOTES & QUOTES:

"I almost kissed J.D. Drew when he made that play in the gap...J.D. came in and I said, `No one loves you more than me right now'." Lowell, accurately describing everyone's feelings after Drew's 3rd inning catch

RECORD: 1-1

UP NEXT: Wed @ KC, 2PM EST ***Dice-K's MLB debut***