News
Behind Beckett, Sox shut out Orioles
Pedroia, Youkilis, Martinez cut Yanks' lead to half-game
By Ian Browne / MLB.com
08/02/09 12:05 AM ET
BALTIMORE -- It was a mere three days ago that the Red Sox trailed the Yankees by 3 1/2 games. In the American League East, however, momentum shifts can be swift.Backed by a 4-0 victory over the Orioles on Saturday night at Camden Yards, the Red Sox suddenly find themselves all of a half-game back of the Yanks, with a chance to leave the land of crab cakes with first place back in their possession.
Ace Josh Beckett shut down yet another lineup, pushing a modest Boston winning streak to three games, neatly coinciding with a three-game skid by the Bronx Bombers.
Though the Red Sox have had several ebbs and flows over the past couple of months, Beckett has been a rock, allowing three runs or less in 16 of his last 19 starts.
In this one, he fired seven scoreless innings and improved to 13-4 to take over the Major League lead in wins.
"That means my team is scoring runs on the days that I pitch," said Beckett.
It also means that the opposition is scoring very little on the days he pitches.
"Beckett showed tonight why he is one of the most dominating pitchers in the game," said Orioles manager Dave Trembley. "He's throwing 89-mph, 90-mph changeups, cutters, 97-mph fastballs in on your hands. The guy is just one of the game's best. Toward the middle of the innings, we had a couple scoring opportunities and didn't get anything."
The Red Sox have come to expect some stinginess from their ace, who lowered his ERA to 3.27 in this one.
"He kind of got off to a little bit of a bumpy start this year, and once he got on track, he's not content to have a good start and then back off," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "He has a good start and then he works harder. That's what it takes. We look to him for a lot and I think he enjoys being that guy. I think he likes the responsibility, sure."
Offensively, it was a strange night for the Sox, in that they pounded out an impressive 13 hits, but had several of them nullified by leaving 15 men on base.
With Beckett going, the opportunities they did cash in proved to be enough.
The recently-rejuvenated Boston bats again started strong in this one, with Dustin Pedroia launching a solo homer to left with one out in the first.
They fared far better against Orioles starter David Hernandez this time around then last Sunday in Boston, when the right-hander beat them with a dominant performance.
"I was looking fastball," said Pedroia. "He's got good life on his fastball. Everyone was focused on trying to get on top of it. We did a good job of getting his pitch count up. That's something we didn't do last time. We were hacking aggressively, hitting pop flies early in the count. We did a good job as a team of getting him out of the game and getting into the bullpen."
They went the long ball route again in the fifth, as Kevin Youkilis launched No. 19 on the season, a solo shot that gave Beckett a 2-0 lead.
For Youkilis, it was his second homer in as many nights, serving as further proof that he is getting ready to get hot again.
"That's just how the season rolls," said Youkilis. "You figure out things. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. It's just the old up and down of the baseball season. That's why we say you can't stress out. It's what a baseball season is all about."
The same could be said of the Red Sox themselves, as they look like they are getting their swagger back.
While Beckett continued to put up zeros, the offense gave him some more breathing room in the sixth.
Victor Martinez's first hit for Boston was an RBI single to left that scored Jacoby Ellsbury.
"It felt great," said Martinez. "You always look to get the first one out of the way early. Thanks to God, I got that one in my first game."
Ellsbury ignited the rally by leading off with a single, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt and stealing third. Rocco Baldelli came on as a pinch-hitter to replace Jason Bay (right hamstring cramp) and did his job, ripping an RBI single to right that made it 4-0.
Baltimore's best chance against Beckett came in the sixth, when they had runners at the corners and one out. But the right-hander made the pitch he needed, getting Aubrey Huff on a 4-6-3 double play. In the seventh, the Orioles had two on and nobody out, but Beckett again got a pivotal double play. He got three DPs on the night.
"I felt good," Beckett said. "I made pitches when I needed to. Two outs on one pitch three times is pretty big for any pitcher. We're rolling along pretty good."
Speaking of rolling on, the bullpen again fired zeros for the Sox. Hideki Okajima worked around two hits to pitch a scoreless eighth. And flame-throwing rookie Daniel Bard continued his recent run of dominance by punching out two in the ninth.
Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
