Plenty of zip by ace

While Lowe was good, he was no match for the Sox’ No. 1. Bouncing back from a game that got away last weekend in Philadelphia, Beckett personified brilliance. From his demeanor to his breaking ball to his overwhelming (and perfectly placed) fastball, Beckett was awesome in every sense, needing just 94 pitches and 2 hours 11 minutes to take out the Braves, 3-0.

“I thought he did a lot of good things tonight,’’ manager Terry Francona said. “On a really aggressive team, he established his fastball, in and out, movement, velocity. Breaking ball, changeup . . . But I thought he did everything. He was economical. That was fun to watch.’’

Beckett took this one on himself, allowing just five hits, all singles, notching 11 straight outs from the fourth to the start of the eighth. No Brave reached second base until the eighth, and that rally fizzled with a double play. Beckett didn’t need much help from a recently lackluster Sox offense. The first run, in the fifth, was all he needed.

Although Hideki Okajima warmed in the eighth, when Beckett allowed two singles, and Jonathan Papelbon got ready in the ninth, the services of neither were required.

Beckett’s most important pitch was to Jeff Francoeur, which the outfielder slammed back to the mound. Had Beckett not nabbed the ball, it was unlikely the Sox would have gotten two. But he did, and in starting a double play he whipped perhaps his hardest throw of the evening at shortstop Nick Green.

“J.D. thought I was going to put my glove down and swing at it,’’ Green said. “It was the perfect throw, so it’s easy to turn like that.’’

From the start, it was clear the pitchers would rule this one. Between the 97-mile-per-hour fastball that vanquished Yunel Escobar to the infield single awarded to Chipper Jones that had the feel of an early no-hit spoiler, Beckett was dealing in the first. And Lowe wasn’t far behind, opening with three ground outs.

Sure, there were base runners, just not many.