Well your pitching a hell of a game through 4 2/3 innings. Your thinking you will go out and have a beer or two after the game and maybe hook up with a spring break babe. Your pitching line looks something like this. 4 2/3 innings pitched, 1 hit, 7 strikeouts and no runs. Then all of the sudden the next 5 batters go double, double, single, single, single and you’ve given up 4 runs.
Well if your name is Josh Beckett, that’s exactly what happened to you against the Twins on Tuesday night. He was dealing with his curveball and fastball but once he got in that trouble, he again relied on his fastball which was the root of his problems last season. Varitek would pick a spot, he would hit it.
“We kind of went away from my curveball,” said Beckett. “Some balls fell in that maybe sometimes are caught. All in all, it was good. [Jason Varitek] and I worked unbelievable together through the first 4 2/3.”
Beckett did say that the day off on Monday may have had something to do with the unraveling in the 5th inning. Entering the 5th inning, he had thrown an economical 50 pitches.
“I didn’t feel real strong coming in because I didn’t do anything yesterday, no long toss,” said Beckett. Maybe it was one of those deals, fatigue or something from not doing the stuff that I usually do the day before I pitch. But I definitely needed that day off. One day off during Spring Training, you’re going to take it and do something that you want to do.”
Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come from Beckett. He has been pitching well as of late and a great outing on Tuesday night would have been icing on the cake. Instead his troubles made his line look like he had struggled the whole night even though that was not the case.
