Road Warriors: Sox, Beckett remain hot away from Fenway

Sox 9, Seattle 2
WP: Beckett (14-5)
LP: Batista (11-8)
HRs:BOS-Manny (19)
RECORD: 68-43 AL EAST: Up 7

You moose-t be kidding me; the Sox nearly lost Coco Crisp to a freak fourwheel accident. Who's under that costume, Nicole Ritchie?

SUMMARY
Josh Beckett pitched 6 2/3 innings of 1-run ball and the Boston offense exploded for 6 runs in the last three innings to turn a close game into a blowout as Boston won a series in Seattle for the first time since 1999.

#1 STUNNER Josh Beckett 6.1IP, 8H, 1ER, 2BB, 9K
After a couple of tough losses in a row Josh Beckett righted the ship with a dominating performance in his first ever start at Safeco Field and joined C.C. Sabathia and John Lackey as the AL's only 14-game winners.

PAN's FAUN Ichiro 0-5, R
The league's leading hitter capped off a horrible series against the Sox with his second straight 0-5 showing. Suzuki was 1-14 in the three game series and ironically is now 1-14 lifetime vs. Beckett.

SUMMARY
So this is what it feels like to win a series in Seattle.

For the first time since the turn of the century the Sox left the land of laptops and lattes with a series victory under its belt, and it only took a near four-hour marathon and a close call with a moronic mascot to end an eight year drought here.

Other than that it was a piece of (coffee) cake.

On a picture-perfect day in the Pacific Northwest the Sox wasted no time in jumping on Seattle starter Miguel Batista, the Mariners winningest pitcher who was vying for a career-high 12th victory.

Coco Crisp, who would be in the middle of the action all day, including the moose incident, led off the game with a sharp double to center, then took third on a flyout by Youk and waited there while David Ortiz drew a walk.

With Manny up rookie Adam Jones, who manned center today while Ichiro rested at DH, didn't realize how deep he should have been playing the Sox slugger.

He soon learned when Ramirez (2-4, R, 2BI) smoked a 2-2 offering from Batista a long way towards straightaway center field, and Jones used all his ample speed to track the bomb down. But once he caught up to the drive it doinked off his glove for a miserable 2-base error, and Boston led 1-0 mere minutes into the game.

They would quickly extend the lead when Batista (6IP, 5H, 3R, 2ER, 5BB, 3K) intentionally walked J.D. Drew to load the bases, then unintentionally walked Jason Varitek to force in another run, and the Sox enjoyed an early 2-0 lead with just one hit.

Beckett would escape a jam in the bottom of the frame when he gave up a two-out single to Jose Guillen (3-4) and Ben Brousard reached when strike three got away from Varitek.

Three pitches later Beckett got Adrian Beltre to ground out, but it would be the first of many jams Becks would have to work his way out of in order to record the win.

Despite myriad baserunners for both teams the score remained 2-0 until the fifth inning. That's when Manny sent a deep drive to an area that even the fleet-footed Jones couldn't get to--the patio just beyond the left center field wall for his 19th longball and a 3-0 Boston bulge.

Following that frame there was more excitement on the field for Boston, but it didn't involve a homer or a great defensive play.

Between innings the Mariners mascot, brilliantly named Mariner Moose, was performing one of those inane ATV-fueled acts, riding around the field throwing t-shirts and delighting pre-pubescent kiddies all over the ballpark.

Only this time the act veered into an episode of Hot Pursuit as the moose nearly ran over Coco Crisp as he went to jog out to his position in the field.

Unharmed, Crisp (2-4, 2R, BI) laughed off the faux pas and mockingly threatened to throw his glove at the mascot, but I don't think Coco realized just how close he came to a lengthy DL stint courtesy of the moronic mascot.

Or as Remy so aptly put it, "imagine losing your center fielder to the Mariner moose?"

RSN shudders at the very thought.

With the near catastrophe averted the teams got back to baseball, and the Ms finally scratched a run off Beckett in the sixth on singles by Broussard, Ibanez and an RBI knock from backup catcher Jamie Burke, but Boston would get that run back and then some over the next three innings.

The Sox scored two in the 7th on a walk, a triple by J.D. Drew and an infield single by Lowell, then plated three more runs on a sac fly by Coco, an RBI double by Youk and a run scoring single by Ortiz in the 8th.

Dustin Pedroia added a pinch hit RBI double in the 9th to account for Boston's final run, and the game was so out of reach that the few fans who stuck around for the end of the game didn't even mind when Kyle Snyder gave up an RBI single to Jose Vidro with two outs in the 9th.

By then the Sox were already packing their bags for the flight to LA, anticipating the return of Curt Schilling tomorrow night and basking in the glow of the first series win in Seattle in the aughts.

Oh and thanking their lucky mocha lattes that their center fielder didn't get run over by a moose.

NOTES & QUOTES:

--Busy day: Not only did Coco nearly get run over, he was almost hit by a pitch from Batista in the 6th, made another CocoCatch to rob Vidro of a hit in the 7th, and slapped an Ichiro-esque double down the leftfield line in the second

--"I'm not an angry man. It was an accident. I mean, I'm not going to run over and clothesline the guy."--Coco

--Pick me: each team had a baserunner picked off the basepaths; Beckett nailed Ibanez leaning off second base in the 4th, and Julio Lugo got caught in between second & third in the 6th

--Eric Hinske will be gone from the club for three days to deal with the impending birth of his baby and the untimely death of his grandmother. The club has said that Pawtucket outfield prospect Brandon Moss will be called up and join the club in Anaheim

--Ichiro's 0-12 skid is one at bat away from a season high

--Boston racked up 13 hits and 8 walks; every starter except Tek had at least one hit

--pitching coach John Farrell laid into the mascot and Mariners officials after the moose incident, and although Tito was in the loo when it occurred, ESPN reports Seattle GM Bill Bavasi sent an apology to the Sox dugout immediately afterwards