News
Eight isn't enough from Beckett
Sox ace serves up career-high five home runs to Yankees
By Ian Browne / MLB.com
08/24/09 1:48 AM ET
BOSTON -- Eight innings from Josh Beckett, more often than not, is a sign that things have gone very right for the Red Sox. On Sunday night at Fenway Park, that couldn't have been further from the truth.Sure, Beckett gave the Red Sox some distance. But the Yankees spent the entire night going long-distance against him, taking the rubber match of this three-game set between the rivals with an 8-4 conquest.
Beckett surrendered a career-high five home runs, spread between Hideki Matsui (two), Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez. Overall, he gave up nine hits and eight runs, walking none and striking out five.
"Obviously, you tend to remember these," said Beckett. "These are humbling deals. Like I said, that was a whooping I got today. That's the only words I've got to sum it up."
The Yankees extended their lead over the Red Sox to 7 1/2 games in the American League East. The rivals meet for the last time in the regular season for a three-game series that starts in New York on Sept. 25.
However, the Red Sox are still in the thick of contention for the postseason, leading the Rangers by one game in the Wild Card standings.
"There's still time left [to win the division], but if that doesn't happen, I think what goes unnoticed around here is that we're in first place for the other remaining playoff spot," said Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay. "It goes unnoticed sometimes when you're playing New York and people want to make a huge deal out it. We won the Wild Card last year and made it to Game 7 of the ALCS.
"Obviously, [the division] is getting a little further away and we're running out of time, so you have to be realistic. At the same time, your goal is to get into the playoffs. Whatever way you do that, at least you're in."
To get to reach their ultimate goals, the Red Sox will likely need to ride Beckett, much like they did in 2007. But for whatever reason, the ace has hit a rough patch of late.
Beckett (14-5, 3.65 ERA) had been as hot as any pitcher in baseball during an 18-start span from April 30-Aug. 12. But in the right-hander's past two starts, he has been shelled for eight home runs, 15 earned runs and 18 hits over 13 1/3 innings.
"It's frustrating," said Beckett. "You can't give up seven runs every time you go out there. You're not going to be here very long if you do that."
The game was an oddity for Beckett in that he gave up so much, but lasted so long. How rare is it? Since 1954, only Pat Hentgen (June 25, 1997, vs. Boston) and Jim Palmer (June 22, 1977, vs. Boston) had gone as many as eight innings while giving up five home runs.
"He'd make one mistake and pay for it big," said Bay. "It wasn't like they were chipping away."
Coming in, the game was billed as marquee matchup. The Yankees had CC Sabathia going. But neither pitcher was dominant, though Sabathia (6 2/3 innings, eight hits, four runs, no walks, eight strikeouts) was good enough to win.
"CC threw the ball well," said Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis. "We didn't get some big hits here and there. He pitched the ball well and we didn't get as many runs as we would have liked to early. We got to him a little early, but we didn't get a chance to jump back on him."
The tone was set from the very first pitch of the game, which Jeter deposited over the wall in right field. Matsui nailed Beckett's first pitch of the second inning to right for a homer, giving the Yankees a quick 2-0 lead.
The Red Sox rallied back against Sabathia, with Mike Lowell belting a two-out double and scoring on an RBI single by Rocco Baldelli. Jason Varitek roped a double to right, tying the game at 2.
But Beckett couldn't find his groove. Mark Teixeira put New York right back in front in the fourth with an RBI single, and Rodriguez made it 4-2 on a fielder's-choice grounder. The Yankees went to the long ball again in the fourth, as Cano hit a solo blow.
"[It was] a little bit like the last outing," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "He's been struggling to get that good two-seam movement. This team doesn't need help elevating the ball -- they can do it on their own."
Youkilis tried to get the Sox back on track in the sixth, leading off with a double. With two outs, Varitek hit a pop fly into short right that looked to be an inning-ender. But Cano dropped the ball for an error and Bay raced home from first to make it 5-3.
"I kept running. There was nothing left to do but run it out," said Bay. "I was almost expecting [third-base coach] DeMarlo [Hale] to hold me up and say, 'inning's over,' but then by the crowd reaction, I [figured I] should probably keep running."
Again, though, momentum went right over the wall, as A-Rod roped a two-run shot over the Monster. The Red Sox got a sacrifice fly from Baldelli in the sixth, making it a 7-4 game.
"When we got pitches to hit, we hit them. It's really not more complicated than that," said Jeter. "He's always tough to face. Even though we got some hits today off him, it's not like guys are running up there to hit off him. He's tough. Today, we just got some pitches to hit and we hit them hard, but I'm pretty sure he'll be fine."
Beckett was still around for the eighth, and the Yankees gave him a parting shot, with Matsui unloading for his fourth homer of the weekend, and second multihomer game of the series. The solo shot put the Sox in an 8-4 hole, one they would not climb out of.
"Like I said, today is on me," said Beckett. "The guys went out and did what they're supposed to do, got [nine] hits. You can't expect them to score 11 runs every time. That's basically what it would have taken for us to win today, given the way that I pitched."
However, his teammates are more than confident that Beckett's past two starts were nothing more than a blip, and not a sign that a downturn is ahead.
"We didn't get the Josh that we're used to," said Youkilis. "Hopefully these past two starts will just be what it is and we can move on, and hopefully his next start will be a good one to get his confidence going to push him through September."
Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
