Simply The Best by Jared Carrabis
Beckett knocks down the door to 100-win club


And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Josh Beckett is an All Star.

Entering Sunday's series finale with the Kansas City Royals, Beckett had a lot riding on his final start before the All Star break. With a win, Beckett would secure his spot as the pitcher with the most wins in baseball heading into the break and a win would also open up the game to the 100-win club.

Beckett knocked down the door to the 100-wins club by spinning his most impressive outing to date. It took the right-hander 104 starts in a Red Sox uniform before he was able to spin a complete game shutout, and it only took four starts after that gem before he would do it again.

"It's pretty memorable," Beckett said of adding 100 wins to his resume. "It's cool. It means I've stuck around for a little while. Obviously, you try to win every game, but sometimes, things don't work out in your favor. Fortunately for me, this team scores quite a bit of runs. It's kind of jump-started me toward those numbers."

Usually when you toss a complete game shutout, you can't really get any better than that unless you're the proud owner of a no-hitter. Well, Beckett out-did himself compared to his last complete gamer by holding the Kansas City Royals to just three hits on the day and only needing 94 pitches to do so.

Mirroring his last complete game shutout, which came on June 20 against the Atlanta Braves, Beckett fired 94 pitches in both outings and racked up a total of seven strikeouts in each of his masterful outings. Beckett's ERA dipped from 3.62 to 3.35 and was once as high as 7.22 on April 30 after suffering a loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

"I don't think it's a coincidence," Francona said of the turnaround. "He's been the Beckett we've come to appreciate."

After his dominance on Sunday, the right-hander has now allowed two earned runs or less in nine of his last eleven starts. Run support was no problem at all behind Beckett, as the Sox put a six-spot on the board in support of number 19's push for 100 wins. Rookie, Aaron Bates, had the best day of his life, going 3-for-4 with an RBI double less than 24 hours after knocking his first Major League hit and RBI into center field on Saturday night.

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

The Red Sox now set sail into the All Star break, a cool 20 games over .500. Their 54-34 record heading into the break is the team's fifth best record in team history prior to the summer classic. The 54 wins notched by Boston are the most among all American League teams.

Here's an interesting fact you can impress your friends with: Jason Bay reached base five times on Sunday without getting a hit. He walked three times and was hit by a pitch in his final two at bats. Sounds like a painful way to raise your OBP. The last player in Red Sox history to accomplish that feat was Ted Williams.

The complete game shutout for Josh Beckett was the second of his 2009 season and the fourth of his career. The first two complete game shutouts tossed by the Boston ace came back in his days with the Florida Marlins.

Dustin Pedroia will miss the All Star Game



Just a reminder, the State Farm Home Run Derby is on ESPN tonight at 8pm ET, enjoy!
-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Royals 0, Red Sox 6



This one goes out to Josh Beckett. Love, Red Sox Nation.



Published on July 13, 2009

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