Red Sox News & Notes – 6/16

: Infielder Kevin Youkilis(notes) #20 of the Boston Red Sox is congratulated by Adrian Gonzalez(notes) #28, David Ortiz(notes) #34 and Dustin Pedroia(notes) #15 after his three run home run in the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays during the game at Tropicana Field on June 15, 2011 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Fans of both the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins were presented with a dilemma on Wednesday night. After all, the Bruins were playing for the Stanley Cup while the Red Sox had Josh Beckett on the hill.

Well about an hour and half before the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, Beckett pitched perhaps his finest game of the 2011 season in a one-hit 3-0 shutout of the Tampa Bay Rays. The shutout win for Beckett and the Red Sox avenged Tuesday night’s shutout by the Rays.

Offense was at a premium in this game as Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson matched Beckett for 6 1/3 innings. The only hit Hellickson had allowed up until that point was a single by Dustin Pedroia in the 1st inning. Beckett’s only hit allowed came in the 3rd inning when Reid Brignac beat out an infield single.

Pedroia changed things though in the 7th as he tripled with one out. Rather than face Adrian Gonzalez, the Rays decided to intentionally walk him to set up the double play, something the Red Sox had been hitting into with a high frequency so far in this short series. But the move backfired on Joe Maddon and Hellickson as Kevin Youkilis took an 0-1 fastball and planted in the left field seats to provide the only runs of the night for the Red Sox.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett(notes) reacts after closing out the Tampa Bay Rays in the ninth inning during a baseball game on Wednesday, June 15, 2011, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Beckett’s stuff was electric last night. He had excellent command and location on all of his pitches. His fastball and changeup set up his cutter and vice versa. He needed just 97 pitches to get through the game.

He faced one batter over the minimum on the night while striking out six. He didn’t walk a batter. Before last night, the fewest hits Beckett had given up in a start was three. The last time Beckett had a complete game was on September 12, 2009 and that came against the Rays as well.

Obviously the big difference in 2011 compared to 2010 is the fact that Beckett is healthy. He spent a good amount of time on the disabled list in 2010 and when he came back he never seemed right. That definitely isn’t the case in 2011.

The nine shutout innings last night lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.86 while raising his record to 6-2. Could a starting nod in the 2011 MLB All-Star Game be in his future? Only time tell will tell that.

The Red Sox will finish up their road trip tonight in the finale at the Trop. A win would be nice as the Red Sox get set to start up interleague play again for the next two weeks.

We’ll be back later with tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. But for now, enjoy the overnight links by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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Beckett fires a 1-hitter [Boston Globe]

Gonzalez comments go deep [Boston Globe]

Miller will stay, join rotation next week [Boston Globe]

Josh Beckett cool as ice [Boston Herald]

Miller on tap at Fenway [Boston Herald]

These Stanford guys stick together [Boston Herald]

On Bruins’ night, Beckett dominates; Youk salutes Shawn Thornton [Clubhouse Insider]

Beckett shines in 3-0 win over Rays [CSNNE.com]

Youkilis breaks Tropicana slump at opertune time [CSNNE.com]

Rapid reaction: Red Sox 3, Rays 0 [ESPN Boston]

Video: Verlander or Beckett? [ESPN Boston]