RETURN OF THE KING

The injury to Josh Beckett was the first major injury to a key player on the Sox. The Sox got along without him, and he came back in style on Tuesday night.

Beckett went 7 innings against the Indians. Now, you wouldn't be able to tell it from the past two games, but Cleveland has one of the best offenses in baseball. But both Schilling and Beckett have pretty much shut them down.

Beckett allowed 2 runs off 3 hits, and one walk. He struck out 7. His finger appeared to be a non-factor.

Beckett improves to 8-0. The last time a Sox pitcher started their season 8-0 was Rich Garces (yeah, weird) in 2000. Of course, all of those wins were in relief, and some of them were blown saves that turned into wins, or tied games in which he entered then the Sox scored.

Kevin Youkilis continues to be a monster. Another game with a hit, another game with multiple hits, and both hits were big. An RBI double in the 1st to put the Sox up 1-0, and a homer in the 5th to put us up 2-0.

Who would have predicted that before May was out, Hideki Okajima would have 4 saves and a lower ERA than Papelbon? I really like the decision to bring him in to pitch the 9th. There were several left handed hitters due up, and Papelbon wasn't too sharp last night. Good call to give Paps the night off and let Okajima go and get some lefties.

By the way, Ortiz has missed the last three games, and we've won all three. This speaks to the strength of this team, top to bottom.

The Red Sox are 5-0 against the other two division leading teams. They've also gone 11-4 against 2nd place teams (Detroit, Seattle, Atlanta, and Baltimore).

The Man of the Game is Kevin Youkilis. He went 2 for 4 with an RBI double, and a solo homerun. Youk is tied for 2nd in hitting in the AL with Magglio Ordonoez, only .002 behind Posada.

Honorable Mentions:
Josh Beckett: 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 K
Jason Varitek: 1/3, HR, BB

Funny side note. Mister April a.k.a. Alex Rodriguez, is hitting .242 in May with 5 homers and 10 RBI. He, and the Yankees SUCK! They lost their 5th straight, falling 3-2 to Toronto.

When does it get to the point when we start rooting for Baltimore and Toronto when they're playing the Yankees? I think we're at that point right now.