Josh Beckett was absolutely dominating on the mound and he got four home runs from the offense as the Red Sox beat the struggling Blue Jays 9-2.

Kevin Youkilis got it started for the Sox tonight as he hit a Victor Zambrano offering out of the ballpark. It should have been a 2 run homer but Julio Lugo was a little too aggressive trying to stretch a single into a double.

It didn’t start off well for Beckett as Alex Rios hit the first pitch he saw for a home run to tie the game at 1. Then Adam Lind hit a double bringing up the big guns for the Jays. But he settled down a little bit and after an Aaron Hill double in the second inning, he retired the next 11 Blue Jays.

Beckett had gotten some more runs in the second inning when the Sox power hitting 2B, Dustin Pedroia, hit a 3 run home run that barely got over the wall. There have been a lot of people down on Pedroia because he hasn’t been hitting well but he is currently 8 for 14 in his last four games played.

The Sox sent Zambrano to the showers in the third inning when Mike Lowell hit his 5th homer of the season, a 3 run shot and Jason Varitek added a solo shot right after Lowell’s. Zambrano was brutal tonight. He went 2 2/3 innings, gave up 8 hits, 8 runs, walked 2 and allowed the 4 home runs.

Beckett would have probably stayed in the game longer but the Red Sox were up for about 25 minutes in the 8th inning when they actually only scored one run. Beckett threw an economical 89 pitches in 7 innings. He gave up 5 hits, 1 run, walked 1 and struck out 5 Jays.

Devern Hansack came in and wasn’t that good in his 2007 debut. He was a little wild and it may be contributed to nerves. J.C. Romero came in and bailed him out. Kyle Synder came in to mop up in the 9th inning.

Offensively, Varitek was 4 for 4 in the game. Also, Youkilis was 3 for 3 before having to leave the game when he was hit by a pitch in the leg. It was the same leg he was hit on during the game the other day. Youkilis is day to day right now with a contusion on his left leg.

Notes: Beckett’s 7th win to start the season ties him for 2nd all time with the Red Sox. He only trails Babe Ruth, Dave Ferriss, and Roger Moret, who all won 8 straight games.