"Some days, you're going to get a lot of run support, some days you're not," shrugs Beckett, who has by far gotten the best offensive support on the team. "But it's nice when you get a lot of runs and they make it easy for you."
Most nights, four would have been plenty, since Beckett has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 12 appearances and is carrying a 3.44 ERA. That's significantly better than last year, when his ERA soared to a career-high 5.01. His home runs, a career-high 36 last year, are down to six so far and his walks, a career-high 74 then, are a more modest 21. "The guy I heard people talk about last year and saw on video, I don't see that pitcher," says Sox pitching coach John Farrell.
This one is still a battler with a 96-mile-an-hour fastball who can blow batters away. "He beat the Yankees in the World Series," reminds one American League scout. "He's always had that dominating-type stuff. He's a top-of-the-rotation pitcher, and there's only a handful of guys in the league like that."
This season, though, the 27-year-old Beckett has grown craftier and more patient, using his full repertoire. "Josh has allowed himself to go deeper into games by being more effective with his pitches," says Tampa Bay outfielder Dustan Mohr, who played for the Sox last year. "He's using what he needs when he needs it and not just relying on one thing and flashing the other things."
Last year, Beckett concedes, was "a learning experience," figuring out how to pitch in a league with a designated hitter and in an intimate, angular ballpark where a misplaced fastball quickly lands on Lansdowne Street.
"The AL is a more offensive league," says third baseman Mike Lowell, who came to the Fens from Florida with Beckett. "You get to the 8-hole in the National League with the pitcher on deck and it makes things a lot easier."
