Beckett gets win #7 as Sox club 4 homers

Sox 9, Toronto 2
WP: Beckett (7-0)
LP: V. Zambrano (0-2)
HRs: BOS: Pedroia (1), Youk (3), Lowell (5), Tek (3); TOR: Rios (6)

SUMMARY:
Josh Beckett allowed a home run on his first pitch of the night, and then he didn't allow anything else after that.

Beckett became the majors' first seven-game winner thanks to another eight runs of support from his teammates, and he is now 1 win away from matching the team record for consecutive wins to begin a season.

HERO: Beckett 7IP, 5H, 1ER, 1BB, 5K, HR
What else is there to say- the guy has been friggin' phenomenal.

GOAT: Victor Zambrano 2.2IP, 8H, 8ER, 2BB, 4HRs
Forget goat, this clown was more like a giant horse's ass.

Get a load of that linescore- he allowed four home runs & eight hits out of the 16 batters he faced, and by the time he exited the game after allowing back-to-back jacks by Lowell & Tek in the 3rd, the score was 8-1 Boston and the game was over.

The Z-Man's career should be, too.

RECAP:
For an inning or so it really looked like this could be the night that Josh Beckett suffered his first loss of 2007.

Then things got back to normal.

Staked to a 1-0 lead thanks to a Kevin Youkilis solo shot in the top of the 1st, Beckett reverted back to the Josh Beckett circa Aug-Sept 2006 and served up the game-tying shot to Alex Rios on his first pitch of the game. Okay, you can brush that one off by saying it's early, but when Adam Lind roped a double to right center two pitches later, most members of RSN will have to admit they were a bit concerned.

Turns out there was no need to worry because this is Josh Beckett, 2007 edition, the one who doesn't rely solely on his blazing heater and keeps the ball down, had only allowed one homer all season, and who is the proud beneficiary of 8.2 runs/game of support from his pals on offense.

Before the sun had set on a glorious open-air night at SkyDome the Sox tagged Jays starter Victor Zambrano for four homers, including a pair of 3-run jobs by Pedroia and Lowell and by the end of the 5th inning Boston had compiled eight runs, 10 hits and 4 homers en route to a rout of the sliding Jays, who have now lost seven straight.

In the 2nd, with the score tied at one and two outs already recorded, the fun really began for Sox fans. Cap'n Tek (4-4, 3R, RBI) got things started with a single, the first of his four hits, and Coco followed with a walk after taking a couple of borderline pitches. The mistake with Crisp came back to haunt them as the suddenly red-hot Dustin Pedroia deposited a 1-1 offering from Zambrano over the centerfield wall to give Boston a 4-1 lead, and Boston would never look back from there.

Ironically it was Pedroia's 3rd career longball, and two of them have come in this building.

After that the game quickly turned into a laffer when in the 3rd inning the Sox did some more 2-out damage. After Youk (3-3) led off with a single, Papi lined out to second and Youk was doubled off first. Now worries again, as this time Manny singled, Drew walked and Lowell launched his 3-run bomb to make it 7-1 Sox with seven innings to go.

When Tek followed Lowell by going yard on Zambrano's next pitch, the game crossed the threshold from the sublime to the ridiculous, and even though Psycho Gibbons then yanked his human pitching machine of a starter, the scoreboard and mental damage was done, resulting in 7 1/2 more innings of utterly meaningless baseball.

Well, I shouldn't say meaningless. Because the Beckett of old might have lost his focus in a game like this and he might have gone and done something foolish, like, say, allow three gopher balls of his own to a Mr. Vernon Wells, just like he did last year.

Turns out Becks is determined to prove to everyone that the Josh Beckett of 2006 is long gone, replaced with an efficient and confident pitcher who by following the instructions of his new pitching coach, John Farrell, and his mentor, Schilling, has transformed himself into the best pitcher in the bigs and transported himself to the doorstep of Red Sox history.

NOTES:

-The Sox had 13 hits on the game; six players had at least 1 hit, four had at least 2, and two had three or more- another solid all-around offensive showing

-Pedroia is as hot as a truckload of Tony Soprano's Makitas: over the last 4 games the second sacker is 8-13 with 3 doubles, a homer and 5 RBIs and has raised his average from .172 to .256. Looks like Tito's faith in him has paid off

-Another blazing bat belongs to Cap'n Tek, who has now hit in 5 straight games (9-17, .529) and with his 4-hit performance tonight raised his average to a more Tek-like .289. Welcome back, Captain.

-On the flip side, Lugo continues to struggle, and despite adding a couple of hits late, the slumping SS is still batting just .229. J.D. Drew is also still struggling with whatever ails him; his 0-4 night dropped him down to .255- yikes!

-Youk had to leave the game after getting hit with a Casey Janssen fastball above his right knee in the 6th, and he was not too pleased about it, seeing as he was already hit on the same leg Sunday and he was off to a 3-3 start in the game. Hinske replaced Youk, who is day-to-day with a bruise

- Devern Hansack made his first appearance of the year in the 8th and promptly allowed a run on a hit and three walks in 2/3 of an inning, a far cry from his shortened, season-ending no-hitter last year. Romero & Snyder finished it up with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

-The Jays broadcasters were nice enough to inform us watching on Extra Innings that the 6-game lead Boston enjoys in the East is their widest margin ever after 30 games of the season

-Vernon Wells, who absolutely owns Beckett in his career (.467, 4 HRs in 15 ABs), went just 1-3 with a single off him tonight

QUOTES:

-"His off-speed stuff is the key to his success. A lot of power pitchers want to throw it by guys. He's finally understanding that off-speed is the key to being a power pitcher."- Youk explaining the secret to Beckett's success

-"I've been working a lot and it's paying off now. I always had confidence in my ability, it's just a matter of showing it. It's tough starting off slow, but once you get going it's fun to come out if it like this."-Pedroia

-"We're struggling and that was not what the doctor ordered."- the Big Hurt on the Sox homer barrage

RECORD: 21-10

AL EAST: Up 6 gms

UP NEXT: Wed @ TOR 7P