Beckett's outing was not as pristine as his shutout against the Angels 10 days ago, but when he has his fastball, his curve, and his changeup working, he can stymie lineups for critical stretches, and that's precisely what he did last night.
As a result, for the second time in as many series, Beckett has drawn first blood by outdueling the best the other guys have to offer.
"When you're facing a guy like C.C. or [Fausto] Carmona, you better have someone you believe in," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "We do."
After surrendering a solo homer to Travis Hafner in the first inning, causing his club to fall behind, 1-0, Beckett bore down and retired the next 10 batters. During that sequence, he struck out four, induced four ground balls, and coaxed Asdrubal Cabrera into a harmless popup and retired Kenny Lofton on a liner to left field.
"He was real good," acknowledged Cleveland manager Eric Wedge. "He dropped that breaking ball in there, and he was doing a good job of going left to right at the plate with his fastball. He elevates when he needs to. He had that long at-bat against Hafner and decided to break out that changeup after about 10 or 11 pitches and a 3-2 count, so that says a lot about him, too."
That skirmish with Hafner occurred in the fourth inning, shortly after Boston busted out to a 5-1 lead. Hafner, a dangerous hitter who had already made Beckett pay for leaving a 96-mile-per-hour fastball up over the plate, was battling to get the Indians back in the fray. Becket had him at 0-2, but Hafner waited him out, and after Beckett threw ball three in the dirt, then a fastball that Hafner fouled off for the fifth time in the at-bat, the count was full.
Boston's stud righthander then reared back and . . . caught Hafner swinging at strike three with the changeup.
