A Thing Of Beauty

If only I DVRed last night's game! I had some family business to attend to last night, so I couldn't watch it as it aired, but last night's game was a reminder that, sometimes, when we least expect it, in a game we were sure would have gone the other way given recent history, something amazing happens. That amazing something was Josh Beckett's 8-shutout-inning gem against a team that completely pinata'd him last year. It was a game reminiscent of 2007 and of the 2003 World Series when Beckett was a 23-year-old Florida Marlin pitching the game that propelled his team to victory over the Yankees. Last night's game was also against the Yankees.

The offense didn't exactly explode last night, but they didn't need to. All they needed in the end was a single run, which they got in the 3rd inning in a rather interesting way: With the bases loaded and no one out, Papi grounded into a double play and Pedey came home from third. The run was negated when it was determined that Youk went out of the baseline to slide into Jeter in an effort to break up the double play. Fortunately, Cam dropped a slow roller in the hole between short and third and Pedey was able to score. Scoots provided a little insurance in the 7th with double with the bases loaded to bring in 2 more runs. Papi added another one with an RBI double in the 8th.

With Beckett just over 100 pitches after 8 innings, Tito elected to send Pap out for the ninth. Pap delivered, fanning Gardner and Teixeira while getting Jeter to ground out. The Sox had blanked the Yanks and took 2 of 3 in a game that has the potential to be a turning point in the season. Beckett showed the Red Sox that he could still bring it and maybe, just maybe, he will pitch like he has in other odd-numbered years in his career. After Buch took a tumble in Saturday afternoon's game, seeing Beckett step up against a team that lit him up last year was a very encouraging sign. We can't get too carried away, however--the offense is still stranding baserunners like there's no tomorrow--and we can't take the Rays for granted, even though they, as of last night, are off to an even worse start than the Sox (1-8 vs. 2-7). The Rays tend to play their best against the Red Sox and the Sox are sending Dice-K to the mound to set the tone for the series. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. I hope the Sox can take at least 2 of 3 and keep climbing out of the hole, but we'll need more pitching performances like last night's and last Thursday's to get on that much-needed winning streak.