For the past two months, Josh Beckett has been totally dominant on the mound for the Boston Red Sox. You expected that trend to continue last night against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Well Beckett was far from vintage Beckett last night as he really had no command of his pitches last night. We could argue the fact that this was the first time Victor Martinez caught him but sometimes pitchers just have those kind of nights.
Normally when you give Beckett the lead, he holds it. Last night, he had trouble doing that and eventually left the game trailing 7-6. Fortunately for Beckett, David Ortiz had a great game at the plate last night as he went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs, including a double and solo home run. Jason Bay also added a solo shot.
The Red Sox did bounce back off of the Blue Jays bullpen to take the lead. As we are too far accustomed to, Jonathan Papelbon made things interesting again last night as he allowed two runs to score in the 8th inning to cut the lead to 1. He was able to work around a hit in the 9th to finish off the game.
It was a much needed win for the Red Sox last night who came into the game finding themselves trailing the Texas Rangers by 1 game in the wild card standings. When they walked off the field, they found themselves back in a tie for the lead in the wild card standings. They still the New York Yankees by 7 games in the AL East.
It was great to see the Red Sox fight back last night. Maybe it was the return of Kevin Youkilis, maybe it wasn’t. But whatever it was, it was jsut nice to see the fight back in them. Maybe they’ve realized they just need to play good baseball and the wins will come.
Congratulations are in order for Dustin Pedroia and his wife Kelli, who gave birth yesterday to their first child, a son. Dylan Pedroia was welcomed to the world yesterday, weighing in at 7 lbs, 20 1/2 inches.
Help Red Sox Monster help friends in need [Red Sox Monster]
Laser Show [Center Field]
Go-getters [Boston Globe]
Wakefield and medical staff to talk [Boston Globe]
Beckett gets caught off guard [Boston Globe]
Buchholz hoping to buck losing trend [RedSox.com]
Ellsbury poised to steal Harper’s record [RedSox.com]
Youkilis shoots for Aaron Award repeat [RedSox.com]
Varitek’s value [Clubhouse Insider]
Tuesday Quickie: Double Play Completion Percentage [Nuggetpalooza]
Sox release Ivan Ochoa to clear room for Chris Woodward at Pawtucket [Projo Sox Blog]
Bats have Beckett’s back this time [Providence Journal]
Against Toronto, Perseverance paid off for Sox [Providence Journal]
Former Sox pitcher Craig Breslow: ‘The Smartest Man in Baseball’ [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Wakefield likely to need another start with PawSox [Providence Journal]
Oakland’s Jack Cust calls Mitchell Report ‘a joke,’ wonders why Red Sox players weren’t named [Providence Journal]
At crunch time, Sox will benefit from an iron stomach [Tony Massarotti – Boston Globe]
Tony’s Top 5: Playoff races in Red Sox history [Tony Massarotti – Boston Globe]
Five Things We Learned: Ortiz Offered a Pretty Hefty Reminder [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]
For Pedroia, Dylan Was Worth the Wait [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]
Red Sox avert heartbreak, edge Jays [Boston Herald]
No regrets from Kevin Youkilis [Boston Herald]
John Smoltz thanks Red Sox on way out [Boston Herald]
Tim Wakefield decision soon [Boston Herald]
Telling victory for Red Sox [Boston Herald]
At 70, Carl Yastrzemski lives a life of no regrets [Boston Herald]
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and Providence Journal websites.
And if the enemy papers are more your flavor, you can head over to the Toronto Star and Toronto Sun websites.
