The day started with bad news, as Kevin Youkilis was placed on the DL. But the silver lining was that Mike Lowell was waiting in the wings. And before the fans at Fenway could sit down from the standing ovation they gave Lowell, he'd hit the ball out of the park.
That's the sentimental story of this game. The more concrete story was Josh Beckett's superb outing. He went an efficient 8 innings, only needing 103 pitches to do so. He struck out 8, walked none (I love seeing that 0 under BB in box scores), and allowed 3 hits. One of those hits was a solo homerun, but that's all Cleveland could manage.
With all the injuries, the struggles to score consistently, and the downright crappy bullpen; the Sox need to win with excellent starting pitching. Josh Beckett is a key part of that winning equation. He's been a very inconsistent variable the past few seasons, but if he can give the Sox 10 really good starts down the stretch, then there's a chance.
11-6 Jon Lester faces 3-10 Justin Masterson tonight.
