Curt's Bloody Sock: Bad times bite Beckett, too; Rocks hand him first loss

Colorado 7, Sox 1
WP: Beckett (9-1)
LP: Francis (6-5)
HRs: COL-Atkins (5), Holliday (11)

SUMMARY
Different night, same crappy New England weather, same crappy Red Sox result.

Another obscure starter shut down the Sox offense, holding Boston to two runs or fewer for the seventh time in nine games, and the Rockies pounded one of Boston's best pitchers early & often for the second game in a row, and it all added up to an ugly series loss for Boston.

HERO: G. Atkins 3-5, R, 4RBI, 2B, GS
The slumping third baseman has found his groove and picked up his team tonight as his thrid inning grand slam set the tone for another dominating Colorado victory.

GOAT: Beckett 5IP, 10H, 6ER, 1BB, 1K, 2HRs
First time making this category for Becks, and he certainly earned it with an outing that was more reminiscent of July/August 2006 than April-Jun 2007.

RECAP
Technically, the Sox are not in a slump. After all, they have won four of the last seven games and had a chance to sweep Arizona had it not been for a large Unit on the mound.

But after tonight there is no doubt that Boston is struggling, scuffling, stumbling, and worst of all succumbing to weaker teams and inferior pitchers, turning each new scrub into the second coming of Sandy Koufax and suffering from a maddening inability to get runs across the plate.

The stench of desperation hung in the misty, frigid air over Fenway right from the beginning of the game when the lineups were announced and Tito unveiled his latest incarnation of the Magic Leadoff Man-as in poof, let's make one of our multi-millionaire players into a serviceable major league leadoff hitter.

This time it was J.D. Drew's turn at the poisoned position, he of the .236 average and .338 OBP. Granted he does walk a lot (31 in 56 games, 3rd behind Manny & Papi), and he had been hitting the ball better lately, but couldn't the pressure of having to get on base at the top of the order really fuck up his already morbid offensive situation?

The answer, it turned out, is yes as Drew went 0-5 and made outs to begin an inning (1st), end an inning (8th), twice with two men on (4th, 6th), and once with the bases loaded (2nd). Nice.

But I digress. I'm supposed to be recapping the game, but this is how we get when our team has lost 9 of its last 14 games while scoring fewer times than Turtle on Entourage while the Stanks are screaming up from behind them, winners on nine straight.

Much like last night the Rocks got to Boston's starter early, by scoring another first inning run. Kaz Matsui (3-5, 2R), who has been a real pest the past two games, blooped a fly ball to the Bermuda Triangle behind second base that fell between three fielders, and Matsui hustled it into a double. Uh-oh.

One out later Todd Helton (2-5, 2R, BI), another pest, laced a 1-2 offering from Beckett into center to score Matsui with the first run, and just like that you got the feeling it was gonna be one of those nights.

That feeling was especially strong when the Sox loaded the bases in the second off Francis (5IP, 7H, 0R, 2BB, 6K) but once again could not push a run across (I've stopped counting how many times that has happened recently.) Lowell led off with a hard single, and after Tek struck out Coco walked and Lugo reached on an error by Helton to load the bases for Drew.

I'll give him credit- he did hit a frozen rope that appeared headed for left field- but SS Troy Tulowitzki stepped in front of it to snag the hot shot, and after Pedroia K'd, the Nation started to shift in its seats from that queasy, uneasy sensation welling up inside.

But Beckett was on the hill, he of the perfect record and lights out performance last time out, so no worries, right? After all, it was still a 1-run game with seven innings to go.

Becks took care of that glimmer of hope by serving up a 4-spot to the Rockies in the third, and Colorado made Boston's scoring ineptitude seem all the more embarrassing when all the runs scored on one swing of the bat.

Matsui (damn him!) led off the frame with a single and then Matt Holliday (PIA #3) ripped a double to to left center that set up runners at second & third with no outs. After walking Helton to pack the sacks, Atkins, who had a breakout season last year but had struggled mightily this season, worked the count to 3-1 and then pounced on a Beckett fastball, sending a tracer missile into the Monster seats in the blink of an eye that left the sellout crowd dazed & confused.

This couldn't be happening again, could it? And to our best, most dependable, most consistent pitcher to boot?

Unfortunately it was happening again, and just to prove this was like some hardball case of deja vu, Francis continued to shut the Sox down for five innings and then manager Clint Hurdle let five relievers finish it out; still, Boston could manage only one run against the likes of Tom Martin, Manny Corpas and LaTroy Hawkins, and that was on-of course-an RBI single by Lowell in the 7th.

Beckett would allow another run on a homer by Holliday before he departed after five innings (and 100 pitches) as well, and it was small consolation that Snyder, Timlin & Lopez managed to stop the bleeding. By then the damage was done, and it was time to put this one behind us, too.

And so here we are, suffering another case of deja vu, this one flashing back to last season. Beckett started that season like gangbusters, too, before immaturity, control issues and longball problems submerged his first year in Boston, and the Sox enjoyed a comfy divison lead through July until the Stanks came to Fenway, executed the BM II, and derailed any postseason plans the Sox had been making.

But this team is too good, too deep, and too talented to stay in a funk like this for a prolonged period of time, and the veteran leadership won't allow a funk like this to faze them. They realize they can bust out of it any minute, and they also realize there's no way teams are going to face Schill, Beckett, Dice-K and Wake all in a week and defeat every one of them.

So we as a Nation just have to ride it out. The rock-n-rollin' Rockies have left town and the struggling Giants come to Fenway in a series that should see more booing of the opponent than any this side of a visit by the Stanks.

The question is, are we going to be booing just Barry, or are we going to be booing members of the home team as well?

NOTES:

Boston did register 10 hits, two each by Manny, Lowell and Tek, had three walks and a man reach on an error, but stranded 14 baserunners
Although the Sox held Willy Taveras in check (0-5), the 2-3 hitters, Matsui & Holliday, went 5-10 with two doubles, a homer, four runs scored and an RBI
Papi went 0-3 with two Ks and a walk, while Manny continued his hot streak as his two hits raised his average to .293
The Killer T's, Torrealba & Tulowitzki, had another three hits combined, and Tulo had that nice play on Drew as well
Atkins diet: How off has Atkins been from last year? He mashed 29 homers and 120 ribbies while batting .329 in '06; this year-.242/5/28

QUOTES:

"It was a fun run. There's no way I take all the credit. If you're not striking everybody out, you need those eight guys behind you."--Beckett, brushing off the importance of his winning streak

"I know I'm a good hitter. I've had two bad months of swings, but we've got four months left."--Atkins, not lacking for confidence

"We're looking at maybe being up 2-1 with a full-fledged rally going. They turn it around in the top of the inning with a grand slam, so it's a big swing."--Tito, pun intended

RECORD: 41-24
AL EAST: Up 7 1/2 on NYY