Sox bounce back as Beckett bests Birds

Sox 6, Baltimore 2
WP: Beckett (15-5)
LP: Olson (1-1)
SV: Papelbon (27)
HR: None

SUMMARY
The Sox got just what they needed from ace Josh Beckett today--a dominating performance in which the righty came within one pitch of a shutout and kept the surging Stankees at bay for one more day.

#1 STUNNER Beckett 8.2IP, 8H, 2ER, 0BB, 8K
If it weren't for a foul tip by Miggy Tejada with two outs in the 9th Becks would have had his first complete game shutout since April of 2005. Instead he had to settle for becoming the majors first 15 game winner.

PAN's FAUN Garrett Olson 6.1IP, 8H, 4ER, 6BB, 6K
The rookie did his best against the potent Sox lineup, but 14 baserunners in 6+ innings isn't going to cut it against most major league clubs, let alone the best team in baseball.

RECAP
In my preview post I half-joked that the only way the Sox would be assured of a victory today, due to recent bullpen struggles and offensive woes, was if Josh Beckett pitched a complete game shutout.

Little did I know how close I would come to impersonating Miss Cleo.

Beckett came within one strike of making me the newest seer on the block, but those pesky Os wouldn't go down easy and managed to not only spoil the shutout and complete game but forced Tito to use two members of the beleaguered pen just to escape the game with the victory.

Did I mention that my power went out shortly after Manny Delcarmen came in to relieve Becks?

Eerie otherworldly incidents aside Boston got the performance it needed from its ace at just the right time--coming on the heels of last night's late-inning meltdown by Eric Gagne and Hideki Okajima that marked a rare bad outing for baseball's best pen.

And for more than 8 innings it looked as if the bully wouldn't get the chance to repeat the feat today.

Although it didn't look that way from the beginning. After the Sox squandered leadoff walks to Pedroia and Youk in the top of the first, Baltimore countered right back with a pair of baserunners off Beckett in the bottom of the inning.

Corey Patterson reached on an excuse me check swing single that Beckett mishandled, then Nick Markakis (2-4) followed with a soft single to left that put runners at first and third with one out.

But Beckett got Tejada to ground into a double play to escape the jam, and it turned out to be the last scoring threat the Birds would have until the final inning.

On the other side of the spectrum the Boston batters were getting on base with regularity against young Garrett Olson, putting at least two runners on in each of the first four innings, but despite myriad baserunners they only managed to plate a pair of runs in the second and third frames.

Jason Varitek got the ball rolling when he led off the second with a single to right, and J.D. Drew (3-5, R, 2BI) moved him to third with the first of his three hits on the day, a sharp double to right field.

After Coco's grounder to Olson kept the runners in place, Julio Lugo drove them both home with a double to deep left, and the Sox had an early 2-0 lead on the recently recalled lefty.

The third inning had a similar ring to it: Manny worked a one-out walk, Mike Lowell laced a double down the third base line, and after an intentional walk to Tek loaded the bases, Drew looped a ball that landed right on the right field line for a 2-run single that gave Boston a 4-0 lead.

A double play grounder by Coco would end the inning, but the way the Sox hitters were getting to Olson it looked to be a matter of time before they blew the game wide open.

Unfortunately for the thousands of Nation members who flooded Camden that blowout never happened as the Sox would kill rallies in each of the next two innings with groan-inducing double plays, leaving the door open for another Baltimore comeback.

Luckily for those thousands of Faithful fans who made the trek down to the Inner Harbor Josh Beckett was on his game and made sure there would be no such miraculous comebacks.

Beckett was working his heater with nasty accuracy all day, placing 97 mph cheese on every corner of the plate, and when he wasn't blowing his gas by the Baltimore batters he was baffling them with 77 mph off speed stuff.

How good was he? He didn't allow a leadoff batter to reach base until the 9th and had thrown only 83 pitches through seven innings, with no walks and six Ks up to that point.

Boston once again got two batters on base in the seventh when Youk walked and David Ortiz (1-5) singled to center, but Paul Shuey came on to relieve Olson and got Manny to strike out and Lowell to fly out to squash yet another Sox scoring threat.

But in the 8th the onslaught of Sox baserunners finally resulted in a couple more runs, aided by three consecutive walks, and RBI single by Pedroia (2-4, BI) and a bases-loaded free pass to the walking man, Youkilis.

Staked to a 6-0 lead and cruising along it was obvious everyone associated with the sox wanted Becks to complete his gem, and if it weren't for the never-say-die Birds we might have had our wish.

But when the man who started last night's game winning rally, Brian Roberts, led off the 9th with a ground rule double to deep left center, something in the gut screamed "bring in Papelbon" before this thing got too close for comfort.

Sure enough after Beckett retired Patterson on a foul pop to Tek and whiffed Markakais with 95+ heat, Tejada barely foul tipped what would have been strike three to end the game, then deposited a single to left to score Roberts, breaking the shutout and spoiling Becks afternoon of near-perfection all in one swing.

When old buddy Kevin Millar followed with an RBI double to score Tejada Tito summoned Manny D from the pen, and Beckett raced off to a standing O, ran down the dugout steps to the clubhouse and most likely took out his frustration on an unsuspecting tray of food or a water cooler.

As Delcarmen battled Audrey Huff in an epic 12-pitch at bat my power went out, nearly causing me to blow a gasket, and by the time it returned I got to see Papelbon get Melvin Mora to pop out to Pedroia and put an end to any thoughts of a second straight miraculous comeback.

So the ace did his job and got the team back on track and became the first Sox to lead the league with 15 wins since Pedro in 1999, and now it's up to Curt Schilling to keep the ball rolling tomorrow and end this long road trip on a high note.

As for my prediction on tomorrow's game....

...stay tuned...

...or for just 9.95 per minute you can dial my 1-800 number...