TORONTO -- If Josh Beckett had any regrets last night after winning his seventh straight game, 9-2, against the Blue Jays, it's that he wasn't allowed to grab a bat.
The undefeated Beckett was quite the hitter in high school -- he hit more home runs (11) than he won games (10) in his senior year at Spring (Texas) High -- and last season he became the first (and only) Red Sox pitcher to hit a home run since the advent of inter league play, taking Brett Myers of the Phillies deep May 20.
But last night, Beckett could only watch as teammates Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek hit home runs in the first three innings against Victor Zambrano, turning Beckett's night into another exercise of making the most of the American League's best run support. Youkilis hit his third homer in the first, Pedroia hit a three-run home run in the second, Lowell hit a three-run home run in the third, and Varitek hit the next pitch from Zambrano to knock him out of the game.
"I used to be able to hit," Beckett said. "Until I started pitching every day, I was a decent athlete."
The Sox have won five of their last six games to stretch their record to 21-10, their best mark after 31 games since the 2002 Sox were 24-7; that team faded to 93 wins by season's end.
There's no fade evident in Beckett, who gave up a home run on his first pitch, to Alex Rios, and a double to Adam Lind, the next batter, then allowed the Jays just three more hits before he was lifted after seven innings. He became just the sixth Sox pitcher to win his first seven starts. The club record is eight, shared by Babe Ruth (1917), Dave Ferriss (1945), and Roger Moret (1973). George Winter (1901) and Mickey Harris (1946) are the others who won their first seven.
"To his credit, he reeled it back in in a hurry and made some adjustments real quick, which was nice to see," said Terry Francona, who won his 300th game as Sox manager, the 10th man to do so.
But Beckett, while low-keying his start, was enthused about the night enjoyed by the offense, especially Varitek, who had four hits. In addition to his third home run -- his first extra-base hit in a dozen games -- Varitek had three singles, matching a career high for hits he had achieved five times, the last Sept. 20, 2005, at Tampa Bay. Varitek also walked.
"I'm always pulling for these guys to hit, man," Beckett said. "This is like our family right now. On days I'm not pitching, I'm down there grinding out those at-bats with those guys. I know what it's like to be in those situations.
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