Throwback game for Beckett

May 10, 2006|Dan Shaughnessy

NEW YORK -- Before the Red Sox were retired in the fifth inning, the Yankees already had allowed six unearned runs, committed three errors, and thrown two wild pitches. Randy Johnson had been KO'd, leaving the mound to a chorus of boos after walking five in his shortest stint against the Red Sox in 15 years (3 2/3 innings). Oh, and Alex Gonzalez had hit his first home run in nine months. This was, in other words, a night for Boston fans to wear those ''Yankees Suck" shirts with some conviction.

It was also a night for Josh Beckett to get his mojo back. Beckett won his first three starts with the Red Sox, then struggled through three rough outings. Last night, returning to the emerald lawn where he copped the World Series MVP when he was 23, Beckett surrendered a two-run homer to Jason Giambi in the first inning, then settled down nicely and watched the Yankees come apart like a cardboard box in a monsoon.

In the end it was Boston 14, New York 3. Beckett (4-1) left after seven. He gave up three runs on six hits, walked none, and fanned seven on a night when Wily Mo Peña played all three outfield positions, which is a record that cannot be topped unless somebody does it playing for Joe Maddon in Tampa.

''I think Josh had a little extra life on his fastball," said Sox manager Terry Francona. ''And once we got some runs, he got stronger. I thought he pitched great."

Beckett disputed the notion that he was in any kind of slump and is clearly tired of being asked about his heroics of 2003.

''I really didn't think about it much at all," Beckett said, when asked about his return to the scene of his youthful greatness. ''I've got to worry about pitch by pitch and inning by inning. Some of my greatest moments came in front of 2,500 fans when I was pitching in Florida."

Beckett's return to the House That Ruth Built got off to a strange start when he had trouble locating his stall in the Red Sox clubhouse.

''They don't have a locker for me here," he said, feigning exasperation at about 4 p.m. ''I've looked everywhere."

It turned out that his cubicle was at the far end of the room, near the showers and the snacks, behind a pole. It was the locker formerly occupied by Johnny Damon (0 for 7 vs. the Sox this year with two strikeouts).

Just about the time Beckett was settling into his new digs, Damon was grabbing a bat out of his locker across the way in the clubhouse where so many Yankee legends have dressed through the decades. Informed that Beckett had been assigned his old stall in the visitors' room, Damon smiled and said, ''Yeah, and it didn't take them long to give up my No. 18 [Dustan Mohr], either. I remember when Nomar left he said it would be a while before they gave up his No. 5 [it has yet to be reissued]. They gave up mine pretty quickly."