BECKETT BACK AT IT

Matsuzaka and Lester may be struggling, but it's starting to look like Josh Beckett is back on his game. 7 innings pitched, only 3 hits allowed, and 8 strikeouts. That's only 1 earned run in his last 15 innings, and only 3 in his last 22 innings. 5 straight quality starts for Beckett, who is now 3-0 in May.

You know Beckett's doing well when you use the word "only" about a dozen times in a paragraph.

Jason Varitek continues to be solid on offense. It doesn't belong in the 3, 4, 5, or even 6 slot; but he's contributing. And actually, with Ortiz and the crapfest at the bottom of the lineup, maybe Tek belongs in the 6 spot. 2 more homeruns this afternoon and he now has 10. He's already more than halfway to his RBI total from 2008, and only 3 HRs shy of his total from last year.

The Man of the Game:
This is tough because Varitek and Beckett played so well. But I'm gonna give it to Beckett this time. When in doubt, go with pitching.

The Sox go to Toronto this weekend to face the slipping Blue Jays. Wakefield faces Casey Janssen Friday night.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Jim Mone

SOX SET SOME UNFORTUNATE RECORDS

Daisuke Matsuzaka's 4 wild pitches tied an 80 year old Red Sox record for most in a game. The 6 total wild pitches thrown tied a Major League record.

7-10. That's the combined record of Beckett, Lester, and Matsuzaka. All I'm going to say about Dice-K is that his starts should be shown to detainees at Guantanamo Bay as a form of coercive interrogation. So many deep counts, so little aggression.

And I never want to see him pitch in the WBC again.

But you know what? You score 2 runs, you're going to lose 95% of the time. The Sox lineup saw sporadic production from Ellsbury, Youkilis, Lowell, and Bay last night. But Ortiz, Kottaras, Green, and Drew all did nothing.

Man of the Game:
Kevin Slowey - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER

Bitch-Goat:
Daisuke: 0.4
Delcarmen: 0.2
Ortiz: 0.1
Kottaras: 0.1
Green: 0.1
Drew: 0.1

Josh Beckett faces Anthony Swarzak this afternoon at 1.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Jim Mone