4 Sox, 2 Indians

"Fuck this! Fuck This place!"

That's what Josh Beckett was screaming after he was relieved by Rich Hill in the 7th after walking a batter. Rich Hill promptly struck out Jack Hannahan causing Josh Beckett to expressing his true feelings towards Cleveland and earning his first win at the Jake. Hill worked the 8th only allowing a walk. Papelbon worked the ninth and despite giving up his first home run of the year to Travis Buck, gets his ninth save of the year.

Beckett was really good tonight, 6 2/3 innings, five hits, and allowing one run in the second. Beckett's ERA this year is now a ridiculous 1.69 on the season.

Adrian Gonzalez and Jed Lowrie both drove runs in and David Ortiz is the only member of the Sox who had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4.

Sox are a half game back in the AL East.

Box Score

Is Beckett Hurt?

"A red flag went up in Red Sox Nation Sunday when manager Terry Francona decided to push back Josh Beckett's next start to Wednesday in order to give the right-hander an extra day of rest.

While the Red Sox are not saying if Beckett has a specific injury, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe asks if the 125 pitches Beckett threw against the Angels on April 21 have taken a toll on him. Beckett was lifted after 92 pitches Wednesday in Baltimore (ESPN)."

I really hope he isn't hurt, and maybe Francona just wanted to get some extra rest. I guess we will find out on Weds, if he pitches I guess he's fine and Francona just wanted to get him some extra time off, if he doesn't then we will have to think there is something physically wrong with him. If Beckett goes down it would be a huge blow to this team as he has been one of their best starters, and the Red Sox can't afford to dig a deeper hole then their already in.

5 Baltimore, 4 Red Sox

Well that was a little bit of a kick in the nuts. After the Bruins won in OT, you thought that the magic would work with the Sox, especially since they were able to tie a 4-0 deficit thanks to a Gonzalez RBI and a Youk 3 run homerun in the 8th.

But then Nick Markakis opened the Baltimore eighth with a single off Daniel Bard, and Derrek Lee followed with a single to left. Both moved up on a passed ball by Jason Queeratek, and with Guerrero at the plate, Markakis was thrown out trying to score on a pitch that passed the Captain again. Vlad then bounced the ball passed the pitcher, the Orioles took the 5-4 lead and that was all the Orioles needed.

Beckett regressed a little from his stellar starts by letting up 4 runs, 7 hits, in 6 innings. I wouldn't look too much into it, shit happens. Also, I hate losing to the Rex Ryan of baseball Buck Showalter, I hope he goes to the hell.

Box Score

Red Sox 4, Angels 2 (11)

It took 11 innings, and countless missed opportunities, but Adrian Gonzalez finally got the big hit that propelled the Sox to victory last night/early this morning. Angels pitchers issued 11 walks and gave up 8 hits, but Sox' hitters were useless with runners in scoring position, finishing 2 for 18. Gonzalez's 11th inning double, and a 2 run single from Ellsbury in the 6th were the only hits with RISP for the Sox.

Beckett continued to master the strike zone. His only significant miscue came in the 8th, surrendering a 2 run homer to Torii Hunter. In his last three starts, Beckett's pitched 22 innings and allowed only 3 runs (1.23 ERA). At the moment, he's the Ace of the staff. Which is good because Buchholz looks shaky.

Will it last? I don't know. But right now, Beckett is my first choice for a must-win game.

This is the first time the Sox have strung two road wins together. Better late than never.

Jon Lester faces Dan Haren tonight. Haren is 4-0, but he's another righty. So that's nice.

-The Commodore

Sox Starting to Click

Winning becomes so easy when the starting pitcher does well. The pressure eases off the offense. The bullpen has less responsibility. All the hitters have to do is compile a few consecutive hits. It's really simple.

Josh Beckett looks pretty good. I'm still not sold on him yet, as he had brilliant starts in '09 and still finished with a decent but disappointing 3.86 ERA. So far, though, he's been excellent. His fastball is up to 95, and he's challenging hitters with it. The changeup is fooling batters, and the curveball is biting. He's getting strikeouts, and when hitters make contact, they get under or over the ball. That leads to pop ups and ground outs. It's once again fun to watch him pitch.

Lester had another Quality Start on Sunday. He was aided by some double plays, as he scattered 3 walks and 6 hits. He didn't give up the big hit though. It was his first win of the season, but his third straight Quality Start.

Buchholz has me worried. We all assumed that this 26 year old with 25 good starts under his belt was going to be a sure thing for 17-20 wins and an ERA under 3.00. We forgot who he was in '09 and '08. His confidence rises and falls with each start, and right now he's on a downswing.

The offense is still gradually getting better. I'm sick of seeing Crawford leading off games though. Lowrie is red hot and should be at leadoff until either he cools, or Crawford gets his average over .150.

It's funny/sad that taking 2 games from Toronto has become worthy of celebration.

Another tough lefty (how much do we miss Victor Martinez?) faces the Sox as Ricky Romero opposes Daisuke Matsuzaka at 11 AM today.

-The Commodore

Just Joshing Ya

Ah, Nothing like a trip from your most heated rival to get things back on track. To be fair, Beckett was straight dealing last night, there wasn't anything the Yanks could do about it. After pitching terribly against the Yanks the past couple years, Beckett turned back the clock and shoved it like it was Game 6 of the 2003 World Series.

Some alarming points in Yankeeland:

1.) Phil Hughes' Velo. 85 MPH BP fastballs aren't going to get it done in the AL East. Hopefully he gets his arm strength up as the season progresses but the fact that the Yankees needed to throw money at the corpse of Carlos Silva this weekend is not an encouraging sign.

2.) Derek Jeter. - I love the Captain, and he can play on this team for as long as he desires and I won't complain or boo. Ever. With that being said, he just isn't the same player anymore. I got caught up in the hype around his new batting stance this spring and how he was going to have a bounce back year. With every AB that is looking more and more like a pipe dream.

3.) Ivan Nova. Kinda. - Nova seems to be doing exactly what he did last year; rip through the lineup the first time through and then struggle the next time around. He needs to learn to make adjustments out on the mound or he will continue to just be a mediocre pitcher. Fenway is a tough place to pitch in, especially against the Sox ruthless lineup so I still am willing to give him some more time before officially passing some judgment.

Either way, this weekend went exactly how I thought it would. Nothing like a little Pinstripe to cure Boston's hitting woes. Welcome to the 2011 season Sox, lets get down for the thrown down.

Sox Take 2 from Yankees

Taking 2 of 3 from New York will make you forget about an 0-6 start. The Sox finally got some hitting, and finally got some pitching. It wasn't the prettiest series win, but I think we'll all take the W's.

John Lackey sucks. We have to come to terms with that. He's a #5 at best. Hopefully, he'll be the only #5 pitcher in this rotation. He's not going to recapture the form he had with the Angels 4 years ago.

I'm worried about Buchholz. He looked so much like his 2009 self on Saturday. He obsessively threw to 1st base. His body language wasn't confident. He's not throwing strikes. And he's struggling the second time through the lineup. It might just be a temporary thing. But he's allowed 5 homers and 8 earned runs already. In 2010, he didn't allow his 5th homerun until July.

The bullpen also looks ugly. I'm getting flashbacks of 2003, when Todd Jones, Brandon Lyon, and Ramiro Mendoza infested the Red Sox pen.

Josh Beckett was simply magical last night. 8 innings, 10 strikeouts, 1 walk, only 103 pitches needed. He retired the last 14 batters he faced. His fastball had bite, his curve was snapping, and he was confident in what he was doing.

The question with Beckett is consistency. We've seen sporadic brilliance like this before. We need to see a steady string of 7+ inning, 2-3 run starts, though. No more of the 5 inning, 4 run clunkers that we've seen him throw so many times. We'll learn a lot from the quality of his next start.

Offensively, it's still kind of ugly. The Sox scored 4 runs from 12 hits and 8 walks last night. That's not good. Pedroia's upped his average to .400, Gonzalez is hitting, and Ortiz is getting by. But there's still some serious slumping in this lineup. They'll snap out of it, though. Crawford hit a few balls hard, just not in the right place.

Sox host the 1-8 Rays starting tonight. Daisuke faces 24 year old Jeremy Hellickson.

-The Commodore

Indians 3, Red Sox 1

So long as the Orioles are in first place, the season hasn't really, fully begun. It's still in that opening phase, in which averages and ERAs range from 0 to the high hundreds. It's not time to panic. It's not time to even worry. It is time to think, though.

And I think Josh Beckett is going to give us a very disappointing year. I know it's just one game, and 3 runs in 5 innings isn't atrocious. But he looked so inconsistent with his pitches. Sometimes the fastball had bite. Sometimes it just floated up there. And when Cleveland stopped swinging early, Beckett started to struggle.

I feel like giving the offense a pass in this one. The Sox tend to struggle against young, unknown, unfamiliar pitchers like Josh Tomlin. And last night's weather in Cleveland was hardly conducive to offense. And free passes are easy to give in April.

But the Red Sox will need to hit in order to win with the likes of Beckett and Lackey on the mound.

And now comes Daisuke, who faces the Indians' Mitch Talbot. I actually think Daiske is going to dazzle in this game.

-The Commodore

Red Sox @ Indians Preview (Sox Lineup Is In)

What a difference a year makes. A year ago the Red Sox signed signed Josh Beckett to a 4 year $68 million dollar extension. Most fans and experts liked the deal, I mean locking up you "ace" who is just now turning 30 years old usually seems like a good idea. Since then Beckett has been anything but an "ace", and now there are serious questions about where his career is heading. Not only was Beckett terrible last season (6-6 5.78 ERA), but was terrible all spring as well. The Red Sox have been making excuses like "he is just trying to throw strikes", and "spring doesn't matter", but now the games do matter and you'd be hard pressed to find a Red Sox fan that is confident in Beckett right now.

On top of all that negative Beckett stuff the Sox have looked terrible in their 3 games this year getting swept by the Rangers. There has not been one pitcher that has looked impressive over their first 3 games, and now you have arguably you biggest question mark taking the hill against a team that is hitting .318 right now.

With all that being said, this is the Red Sox and they are the Indians and I fully expect the Red Sox to crush Josh Tomlin and the Indians tonight. Tomlin was 6-4 last year with a 4.56 ERA, but with all the extra left handed bats the Red Sox added this offseason I don't see him making it out of the 4th inning.

As for Beckett, I want to see him pitch not just well, but really well. Do I think he will? No, but I do see him going 6 innings allowing 3-4 runs with 5-6 Ks. Right now, the Red Sox will take that in a heartbeat, as they are just looking to get in the win column.

Red Sox win 8-5
Player of the Game: Gonzalez
Game starts at 7:05pm

***UPDATE***

Sox Lineup:

Ellsbury CF
Crawford LF
Pedroia 2B
Gonzalez 1B
Youkilis 3B
David Ortiz DH
J.D. Drew RF
Saltalamacchia C
Marco Scutaro SS

Love the new lineup, esecpially against a right-hander, but I have to admit I am shocked that Varitek isn't behind the plate tonight.