That’s how you describe seven innings of shutout ball. Beckett worked all but two frames, allowed six hits and struck out six. No runs, no walks. That’s the second time he’s beaten the Braves this week. And it really is just beautiful to watch. When you have a pitcher who’s on, who’s dominant, who’s competitive, and he’s throwing heat and hitting all his sports, it’s something. It’s a science and an art. And few pitchers are better at it than Josh Beckett. Playing for us is both the hardest and easiest thing a pitcher could possibly do. On one hand, there’s the pressure. Boston baseball is the most intense baseball there is; you can cut the tension with a knife during any given game. On the other hand, there’s the offense. If a pitcher makes a mistake or two, it’s bad but not the end of the world because the lineup, more often than not, can just score more runs. And that’s a luxury not many pitchers enjoy. But Josh Beckett is the best of both worlds: he feeds off the pressure, and he doesn’t make mistakes. Which means less pressure for the lineup. So on game day when Beckett starts, everyone is nice and relaxed and ready to win.
But preservation of the shutout was not to be. Okajima was solid in the eighth, but Papelbon, who’s just been awful of late, allowed David Ross to hit one out. So we won, 4-1, making it Terry Francona’s 800th win, and if anyone deserves those 800 wins in Boston, it’s Terry Francona. I don’t understand what’s wrong with him, but he’s doing everything but be, well, himself. I still say he’s the best closer in the game, because that doesn’t change overnight, but something’s obviously up. One thing in particular to think about is that with inefficiency come high pitch counts, and with high pitch counts come more work, and with more work for Papelbon comes the chance he might blow his shoulder again. We’re being really careful with him, and his training regimen has done a lot of good in that vein, but he still needs to watch it.
Dustin Pedroia the Destroyah went two for four with two runs and an RBI. Drew went two for four with an RBI. Kotsay went two for four and was caught stealing. And Big Papi did what he does best: hit one completely out of the yard into deep right field. And how about that throw by Green in the seventh? The ball was hit just to the left of second base, so Green ran over on the outfield grass, caught, spun, and threw to Kotsay for the second out of the seventh inning. Flashing the leather and continuing to impress.
But we’ve got some problems. Ellsbury was out of the lineup last night because his right elbow was sore after banging into the center field wall on Thursday. He did make an appearance in the bottom of the seventh, though, which is a good sign. The worse injury report is Mike Lowell. He’s out indefinitely. He wasn’t in the lineup last night, he probably won’t be in the lineup tonight, and who knows when he’ll start again. This isn’t good. He’s been great so far. He says it doesn’t hurt to swing, it just hurts to run. And he’s obviously lost some range at third. Might even have to receive an injection. We’ll see.
Other than that, we’re firing on all cylinders. Still four games ahead of the Yankees, which I like. Should’ve been five if we swept Washington like we were supposed to, but what can you do. Trust in Wake, who squares off tonight against Javier Vazquez. The way Wake’s been pitching lately, it’s unclear whether he’ll get the nod for the All-Star Game. Dude definitely deserves it after all he’s done. But if he wins or pitches very well in the rest of this starts, he may fly out to St. Louis yet.
