Beckett, Bay in good form

Sox come up aces vs. Royals

August 06, 2008|Amalie Benjamin, Globe Staff

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - By the time the ball rolled along the outfield wall, from center fielder Mitch Maier to left fielder Ross Gload, Jason Bay had gone from a chance at a fly out to a chance at a home run to a sure double. As he turned into second base, watching the play all the way, Bay didn't have time to register the might-have-beens, only the what-weres. He had a double, on his way to a career-high-tying four-hit game and a shaving-cream pie in the face, and his team was on its way to one of those rare road wins.

Not that Bay carried the entire load, the Red Sox bolstered too by the reappearances of a 2007 vintage Josh Beckett and a 2008 early-season vintage Jacoby Ellsbury. With a crushing offense (13 hits) and a crushing performance by Beckett (6 2/3 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 7 Ks), the Sox captured an 8-2 win over the Royals in front of 22,069 at Kauffman Stadium.

"It keeps us where we want to be," Beckett said. "We've got to keep winning games. We don't have that big cushion where we can go out, oh, well, we lost this game. We've got to keep pace. That's something new for a lot of these guys in here, myself included."

They did that last night, on a night that the Rays kept rolling and the Yankees got nothing but bad news between their loss to Texas and Joba Chamberlain's visit to Dr. James Andrews. For the Sox, it was good news, for Beckett and for the offense.

After a start last week that the Sox hope was his nadir - 8 runs (7 earned) on 11 hits in getting his third straight loss - Beckett recorded his first win in nearly a month, the last coming over Minnesota July 9. After the first inning, in which the Royals had two hits and scored a run, Beckett allowed only two base runners over the next five innings. He slipped a bit in the seventh, giving up a double to Alex Gordon and walking Gload on four pitches.

He was removed after 90 pitches, with manager Terry Francona saying, "He looked like he was starting to feel it. He was up four straight pitches. That, to me, is when guys will feel it their next outing, more than just the pitch count."

Mike Timlin came in, allowed Gordon to score, but that was it for Kansas City.

"He looked great," Jose Guillen said of Beckett. "His ball moved all over the place. Inside and out. He looked like the playoff Beckett."

A high compliment, and not always a given for Beckett (10-8, 4.08 ERA) this season. But locating his fastball, as he did last night, certainly helps.

So too does a burst from Ellsbury, whose 39-game slide (.217) and lack of stolen bases have dropped him to No. 9 in the order. But two hits, including an infield single off the pitcher, were a precursor to two steals, his first since July 1.