Josh Beckett was just what the Red Sox needed. After some struggles in the 1st inning, Beckett settled down and gave the Sox six quality innings as they took advantage of some miscues by the Devil Rays. The end result was a much needed 8-1 Red Sox win.
Beckett becomes the first player since 2005 to win 20 games when Bartolo Colon did it. He becomes the 47th pitcher overall in Red Sox history to win 20 games. The last to do it was Curt Schilling in 2004 when he went 21-6.
The win for the Sox keeps the lead at least 1.5 games in the AL East as the Yanks are tied in the 12th with the Blue Jays. The magic number for the AL East is now 8 games and the playoff magic number is 2 games.
Jacoby Ellsbury got things going in the 1st inning as he led off with a double off of Red Sox nemesis Scott Kazmir. Dustin Pedroia played some small ball and sacrificed Ellsbury to third. With David Ortiz at the plate, Dioner Navarro tried to pick Ellsbury off at third but the throw went off the glove of Akinori Iwamura allowing Ellsbury to score. Kamir ended up striking out Big Papi and Mike Lowell for the final two outs. They were the first two of nine Sox batters to strikeout against Kazmir.
Iwamura led off the D’Rays half of the 1st with a strikeout. Beckett then issued a walk to Greg Norton and Carlos Peña. He got B.J. Upton to line out for the second out. Delmon Young drove in Norton with a double to tie the game at 1. Beckett finished off the inning with a strikeout of Jonny Gomes. Beckett threw 34 pitches in the inning.
The Sox struck again in the 3rd. Kazmir started off by hitting Eric Hinske. He got Ellsbury to strikeout but then issued a free pass to Pedroia. Big Papi brought in Hinske with a single to give the Sox a 2-1 lead with Pedroia advancing to third on the hit. Kazmir then struck out Lowell for the second time for the second out. With Bobby Kielty at the plate, Kazmir uncorked a wild pitch allowing Pedroia to score and Big Papi to move up a base. Kielty ended up walking and Jason Varitek reached base when Kazmir hit him with a pitch to load up the bases for Coco Crisp. Coco wasn’t able to come through for the Sox as Kazmir got his third strikeout of the inning.
Beckett had settled in and had allowed a few hits. In the 5th inning, he got a great catch from his left fielder Ellsbury as he went diving across the bullpen mound to make the catch. Beckett would come out after 6 innings in line for his 20th win. In those 6 innings, he allowed 4 hits, 1 run, 2 walks and he struck out 8.
The Sox added an insurance run in the 8th off of Devil Rays reliever Gary Glover. The Captain led off the inning with a solo home run to push the lead to 4-1. Glover settled down after the homer and retired the side.
The Sox bullpen was great after Beckett left the game. Manny Delcarmen and Javier Lopez retired the six batters they faced in the 7th and 8th. To that point, Sox pitching had retired 15 straight batters as Beckett had gotten the last nine he had faced.
Boston made sure the bullpen had enough runs as they added four more in the top of the 9th. Jeff Ridgway started it off by walking Ellsbury. He then hit Pedroia with a pitch. Big Papi brought them home along with himself as he hit an opposite field 3-run homer. Lowell would have to wait a moment as D’Rays manager Joe Maddon went to the bullpen for Grant Balfour. Lowell gave him a rude hello as Lowell hit a solo home run to give the Sox a 8-1 lead. Balfour then got Kielty and Varitek to strikeout. Brandon Moss, pinch-hitting for Coco, hit a triple. Balfour then walked Lugo. Balfour got of the jam as he got Hinske to strikeout.
Eric Gagné came in for the Sox in the 9th and guess what folks, he retired the side in order. No hits allowed. A miracle. I kid I kid. He actually pushed the total to 18 consecutive Devil Rays batters in order.
A much needed win for the Sox. Hopefully the fans of Red Sox Nation have come in from the ledges for the time being.
Notes and musings:
Kevin Youkilis underwent an MRI on his injured forearm and the results were negative. Still no real timetable on his return.
Manny Ramirez will not play this weekend as he continues to rehab his strained oblique. He did take batting practice today.
Hideki Okajima did some long tossing today. He won’t pitch this weekend and probably won’t return until next Thursday.
Clay Buchholz will not make another start for the Sox this season. He will probably pitch out of the bullpen.
A member of Red Sox Nation sent RemDawg a Raymond doll with a Red Sox uniform on. Raymond is the mascot for the Devil Rays.
Devil Rays pitchers struck out 17 batters tonight. They had a strikeout in every inning but the 6th.
Mike Lowell is the first Red Sox third baseman to have back-to-back 20 home run seasons.
