Sox lose (again) due to crappy starting pitching (again)

Baltimore 6, Sox 5
WP: Guthrie (2-3)
LP: Beckett (4-3)
SV: Sherrill (14)
HRs: BOS-None; BAL-Scott (2)

SUMMARY:
For the second game in a row the Boston offense staked its starting pitcher to a 3-0 lead after their first at bat, and for the second straight game the starter couldn't make that lead hold up as Josh Beckett pitched as horribly as Clay Buchholz did yesterday in Minnesota, leading to Boston's third consecutive defeat.

SUPERSTAR: Luke Scott 3-4, 2R, 3BI, HR
The former Houston prospect had a night to remember against Beckett, cracking three hits off the shoulda been Cy winner including the big blow of the game, a three-run homer in the 3rd that gave the Birds a 5-2 lead.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Beckett 5.2IP, 11H, 5ER, 2BB, 5K, HR
With the rest of the staff struggling of late Boston really needed Beckett to step up tonight and be the ace we all know he can be. Unfortunately that didn't happen, and instead he pitched like the dearly departed Julian Tavarez.

RECAP:
A week ago the Sox were on the verge of running away with the AL East crown.

Tonight they lost that lead and are now looking up at (gulp!) the Tampa Bay Rays in the standings.

That's what happens when you lose five of your last seven games, including four of them by one run, while the Rays continue to bash quality clubs like the Angels and Stankees en route to winning 15 of its last 20 contests.

And so Josh Beckett's meltdown in B'More, where he had been undefeated (4-0) prior to tonight, coupled with Tampa Bay's 2-1 extra inning win over the Stanks in St Pete vaulted the Rays over the Sox and into first place in the East, the latest point in a season the team has ever been atop the standings in a division dominated by Boston and New York for a decade.

Somebody pinch me now and tell me this is all just a bad dream.

Josh Beckett probably wishes tonight's performance was just a bad dream also, because he pitched about as poorly as he has in a Boston uniform. He allowed the second most hits he ever has since joining the Sox in 2006, and he did so in a ballpark he had been dominant in since coming to the AL.

In four career starts at Camden Yards Beckett was a perfect 4-0 with a minuscule 2.05ERA and an astounding 25-0 strikeout to walk ratio in 30.2 innings pitched.

So WTF happened tonight?

As I said the Boston batters were kind enough to hand their starting pitcher another 3-0 lead after 1/2 inning, the three runs coming on an RBI single by Manny Ramirez and back-to-back errors by Audrey Huff and old friend Kevin Millah, who decided to do his best Buckner imitation, being the cutup and Boston fan that he is.

But just like Clay Buchholz the night before, Beckett wasn't able to make the lead stick, and like young Clay he wasted little time in giving the advantage back to the opponent, and then some.

The Birds touched Becks for one run in the 2nd with a two-out rally begun when Luke Scott singled, went to second on an infield hit and came around to score on a sharp single to center by Jay Payton, another (disgruntled) ex-Sox.

In the next inning the 3-1 lead evaporated, again the damage coming with two outs, and to make matters worse Boston lost its starting right fielder, JD Drew, in the inning as well.

Brian Roberts and Freddie Bynum both started the inning with singles to right, but as Drew dove to try and catch Bynum,'s shot, he twisted his wrist and had to be replaced by Jacoby Ellsbury. Add this ailment to the long list of maladies that have sidelined the fragile fielder.

After the hits Beckett whiffed both Huff and Nick Markakis, but then Millar lined an RBI single to left and Scott, acquired in the offseason from the Houston Astros where he hit 18 homers and drove in 64 runs last year, crushed an 0-1 offering from Beckett high and deep into the right field seats for a momentum-swinging 3-run homer, a shot the Sox never recovered from.

Although they tried, the scrappers that they are.

Faced with a 5-3 deficit Boston had numerous opportunities to score off Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (6IP, 8H, 3R, 2ER, 1BB, 7K) and reliever Jim Johnson, but they could only get one run closer before the Orioles closer George Sherrill came in with one out in the 8th and got the final five outs of the game to nail down the win.

The game ended ugly for Boston, which was without manager terry Francona, who will miss the series due to the death of his mother-in-law, when David Ortiz was ejected for arguing a strike three call to start the 9th.

It was that kind of night for Boston - frustrating, aggravating and very unsatisfying, knowing that first place hung in the balance and their top starter couldn't hold a 3-0 lead in a building he was comfortable enough in to call home.

Now the Sox have to figure out a way to win a game before heading home tomorrow evening, or they might find themselves as far down in the standings as the upstart Rays used to be.

RECORD: 24-18
AL EAST: 1/2 GM back of TB
STREAK: L3
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Wed @ BAL 305 Lester vs. Cabrera