Beckett > Braves by Jared Carrabis
Beckett blanks the Braves...again


Ever since Roy Halladay hit the shelf and with Zach Greinke having cooled off since his red hot start, a hot topic in the MLB has been the search for the starting pitcher of the American League All Star team; search no longer.

Josh Beckett took to the hill on Friday night in search of win number nine of his 2009 campaign. Had it not been for a blown save by Boston closer, Jonathan Papelbon, back on May 23 against the Mets, the flame-throwing righty would be staring ten wins in the face. Beckett's previous outing also came against the Atlanta Braves, and it just so happened to be his best outing in a Red Sox uniform.

The Boston ace hurled a complete game shutout against Bobby Cox's team, giving up just five hits, while racking up seven strikeouts. In that outing, Beckett only needed 93 pitches to hustle through nine frames, which could only mean one thing; he was well rested for Friday night.

Beckett began his night with a clean one-two-three inning in the first and continued to cruise through the Braves' batting order for seven more shutout innings on top of the nine that he had turned in against them last Saturday. The right-handed ace used 95 MPH paint on the outside corner to rack up his first two K's before going to his devastating 12-6 curveball to add his third. When it was all said and done, Beckett ended his outing with a 94 MPH fastball, a swinging strike three, to call it a night. He had six K's in all, lowering his ERA from 3.75 to 3.48.

"That's the Beckett that we've known since Day 1," said Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. "When he pitches like that, he's nasty."

This time he needed 98 pitches to make it through seven innings, but in the end, it was all the same; nothing but zeros in the Braves' run column when Beckett's day was done. Beckett did not issue a single walk, making this his third consecutive outing without allowing a single base on balls.

The Boston offense was first provided by the mighty swing of a born-again monster, David Ortiz. Leading off the top of the fifth inning, Ortiz was delivered a 90 MPH 4-seam fastball in on the hands that the lefty slugger whipped the head of his bat out in front of and crushed deep to right field...like the old days. I don't want to jinx anything, but I've watched the replay of this home run about ten times (maybe more) and I can't help but think that this is how Ortiz was swinging in 2006.

"His swings are getting better and better each day," said Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. "We've got a lot of games left. It's time to turn it on."

Boston would later add a run in the sixth and two more in the eighth to provide Jonathan Papelbon with a 4-0 cushion in the ninth inning. Hideki Okajima helped build that bridge to Papelbon by striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth. However, the four run lead would later be cut to three when former Sox catcher, David Ross, belted a solo shot off of Pap. The homer proved to be harmless, as the Sox hung on to a 4-1 victory at Turner Field.

Things you'll need to know to impress your friends:

Josh Beckett has now won seven of his last eight decisions, raising his record on the season to 9-3. In Beckett's last seven starts, the right-hander is 5-1 with a 1.25 ERA. Over that span of 50.1 innings, Beckett is averaging nearly a strikeout per inning after racking up 48 strikeouts in those seven starts.

If only the first two months of the season didn't count, David Ortiz would be in talks for American League MVP once again. In the month of June, Ortiz is batting .310 with 7 HR, 17 RBI and a 1.060 OPS. After going 1-for-3 with a HR on Friday, Ortiz homered in three of his last four games and is now batting .333 with 14 RBI in his last 17 games, dating back to his first home run of June.

Friday's win provides Red Sox manager Terry Francona with his 800th win as a big league manager. Congrats Tito!

In 23 career at bats against Javier Vazquez, David Ortiz has a lifetime batting average of .304 with 2 doubles, 2 HR and 5 RBI. Why am I telling you this? Keep reading.

Saturday's pitching match-up:

On Saturday, Tim Wakefield gets the start against former member of the 2004 Choke Squad New York Yankees, Javier Vazquez. When he takes the mound in Atlanta in hopes of earning his tenth victory of the season, Wakefield will tie Roger Clemens for most starts in Red Sox history. In Vazquez's career against Boston, the right-hander is 2-6 with a 4.63 ERA, allowing 11 HR in those ten games. Let's not forget his two innings of work in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS either, Damon owns you.

Congrats Tito!
-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Red Sox 4, Braves 1

Published on June 27, 2009

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