The Mariners wouldn't score again as the Sox earned a 5-3 win to snap a three-game losing streak on their final West Coast trip of the regular season. It took those two plays - and a gritty performance from Beckett over seven innings - to disappoint the majority of the 42,589 in Safeco Field last night.
"That was huge," Pedroia said. "Lugey made a great play. I think in that situation, on Julio's ball, we weren't all the way in. We were kind of halfway. In that situation we're banking on them not running on contact, trying to keep the ball in the infield, and Julio did a great job of making the play.
"The next play, we were infield in, anticipating them running. It was kind of slowly hit to me. It was great to get out of that jam. It was kind of a momentum changer."
For Lugo, there wasn't time to consider. Even having just made his third error of his season, he had to move.
"That's a reaction play," said Lugo, who left the game in the middle of the seventh with tightness in his groin/hip flexor. "That's a reaction play where you see the ball and dive and hope you get it. I came up with it."
So too did Beckett, who came up with the win. It had been almost two weeks since a Sox pitcher made it through the seventh inning in a start, the last one coming May 4 by Jon Lester. Even as Beckett threw 108 pitches to end the sixth, manager Terry Francona left him out there for another inning and another 12 pitches.
He made it through, with Ichiro Suzuki's infield single the only blemish in his final inning. Although it might not signal a turning point for the starter, it was certainly his best effort in nearly a month and a half, since his season opener.
"They made him work real hard early, then as he got into the game, started using his two-seamer, his changeup, kind of off his fastball a little bit," Francona said. "It looked like he got his feet under him a little bit. The longer he got in the game, the better he felt."
