Bi-Polar Performance by Beckett Knocks the Sox Back Into Reality

By Justin Gagnon in Featured, Red Sox ⋅ May 8, 2010 at 4:13pm ⋅ Post a comment

Josh Beckett (Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

After obliterating the Angels, the Red Sox faced their biggest rivals Friday night and suffered one of their worst losses of the season. Josh Beckett had complete command of his fastball and off-speed pitches through the first 3.2 innings, striking out seven batters. After giving up a three-run homer to Nick Swisher, Beckett lost control of his whole arsenal of pitches and the game.

Beckett completely fell apart in the sixth inning. He loaded up the bases and could not find a way to get out of the mess even with the weakest park of the Yankees lineup at the plate. He proceeded to then walk catcher Fransisco Cervelli, give up a hit to Randy Winn, plunk Derek Jeter in the back, surrender an infield hit to Marcus Thames, and allow the ice-cold Mark Teixeira to line an RBI single to right.

Finally, Francona pulled the plug and brought in Hideki Okajima, who got out of the inning after an Alex Rodriguez sac fly. The damage was done, however, and the Yankees beat the Sox 10-3.

Sox Stud of the Game: J.D. Drew

Drew was 2-3 and scored 2 of the Sox’ only 3 runs. His batting average has skyrocketed from .133 on April 21 to .264 after Friday night. In his last eight games, he is 14-30.

Sox Dud of the Game: Josh Beckett

In just 5.1 innings, Beckett’s line was 9 hits, 9 runs, 3 BBs and 8 Ks. He’s now 1-1 on the season with a 7.46 ERA. This is pretty routine for him, however, as he was 2-2 with a 7.22 ERA last April. It seemed like not only was he finally getting his act together, but without a doubt, the No. 21 was ringing through the heads of Sox fans after three innings.

Game Notes

W: Phil Hughes (4-0)
L: Josh Beckett (1-1)

David Ortiz continued to be productive going with 1-3 night knocking 2 runs.
Jason Varitek left the game after the sixth inning with a left forearm contusion.
Victor Martinez replaced him and was 2-2 at the plate. He is 4-6 in his last 2 games.
Robinson Cano left the game after getting beaned by Beckett. He is starting to today’s game, batting fifth at DH

Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Josh Beckett, New York Yankees, Phil Hughes, Red Sox