Beckett is Back

He's back. And for the second time this year in the Trop, Beckett tossed a one-hit shutout. Last night, however, even though he went eight full innings, he didn't pick up the win, as it took Boston sixteen - and close to six hours - to push its first run across. And although the pen wasn't quite as good as Beckett, they didn't allow any runs in the eight innings they pitched. So, at around two o'clock Monday morning, Boston added another game to the win column, and left Tampa Bay having won another road series.

That last fact was a big one. The second half of the season opened with a road trip against two AL East rivals. Boston held a narrow lead over the Yankees; and they had to start the second half of the season with a journeyman on the mound. And then things didn't look so great when Andrew Miller gave up a bunch of runs in the first couple innings of the first game of the second half of the season. But thanks to the bats in game two, and then thanks to Beckett and the pen last night, Boston took two of three from the Rays, maintaining their lead over the Yankees. The same Yankees who must now play four games in the Trop; and let's hope they and the Rays split the series, two and two. Let's also hope they Sox play well in Baltimore, which promises to be an emotional series, what with the recent altercation between Papi and Gregg.

The other big news from last night was that Beckett appears not to have suffered anything serious from that hyperextended knee that occurred in his last abreviated outing. I like not only that Beckett shut down the Rays, but that he did not give up a single walk. I think one can tell alot about Beckett's overall performance just from the number of walks he issues. And all season long, he's had three Ks for every walk, with that ratio improving dramatically in his best outings.

Of course, the other key to last night's win was the bullpen, who collectivley performed well above my expectations. Special recognition should go to Aceves, who ate up three of the pen's eight innings, without surrendering a single hit. Even Morales was on for a change, retiring four straight.

So it's on to Baltimore, and the Sox not only want to maintain winning ways, but also take advantage of the Rays-Yankees series, by putting some more distance between them and the next eligible wild card team. The first game of that series is tonight, meaning most everyone will be tired. Except of course Pedroia, who seems to be some kind of incarnation of the Energizer Bunny. Like Ernie Banks, he'd probably like to play two. Go Sox.