Beckett Earns Win #20 as Sox Stop Skid
With the exception of a little trouble in the first inning, Josh Beckett pitched outstanding and earned his league-leading 20th win of the season. More importantly, however, he stopped a Red Sox losing streak that was responsible for more gray hairs in the Boston area than the Big Dig. David Ortiz had a big offensive night with a 3-run homer and 4 RBI, despite the fact that he was not even scheduled to play as lefty Scott Kazmir, who is always a problem for the Sox, was starting for Tampa Bay. Jacoby Ellsbury once again made the highlight reel for the week with a diving catch into the Red Sox dugout as he flung himself over the pitcher’s mounds, ultimately ending up against the wall in a tangle of folding chairs. Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek also both homered for the Sox, and even Eric Gagne was able to get all three outs of an inning without allowing a run. The Red Sox took a 3-run lead into the ninth, and then blew it open by putting up a 4 spot in the top of the inning.
Oh yeah, and the Yankees lost a bitter game in which they rallied from 4 runs down in the bottom of the ninth, only to ultimately lose it in the 14th inning to the Toronto Blue Jays. That puts our lead back to 2.5 games and allows Boston to at least exhale a little. Overall, it was a fantastic night for Red Sox Nation.
Chronicles of a Royal Rooter 
I wasnt able to watch the game, so thank you for this blog.
beckett is the man
he should win the cy young
I am in…Ellsbury starting over Coco (except against tough lefties) down the stretch and in the playoffs. How do you feel about that?
http://statisticianmagician.mlblogs.com/
I would agree with that. Even though he is a rookie, he has nearly 100 at bats under his belt and holds over a .370 batting average. He also has been playing excellent defense. My biggest fear would be the fact that Ellsbury does not have the experience Coco has, but I think that he has proven himself enough to earn a starting position from here on out.
It was nice to see Gagne get through an entire inning without giving up a run – it’s been a while. Still, I say we stick with him and see what he can do for the team (although I really did hate to see Gabbard leave town).
Beckett has developed into a real pitcher. He now mixes his pitches well which makes his fastball almost unhittable. Ellsbury is the real deal.
Thanks for the update. I appreciate the information. Let’s hope Toronto has a good game tonight against the Yanks.
You make me want to move back to Boston. I miss watching games and not just reading about them. Jon’s coming tomorrow–he’ll bring the Red Sox some more luck as they get closer to October.
Pettitte is going to get shelled tonight. Can’t wait to come back to Boston this weekend for the Twins Series!!
Amen to that. Go Toronto!
Great Blog, thanks for all the info and always keeping us up to speed.
Great to see someone running for President of a fan club who is a fan and not a professional writer, baseball player, or sports announcer. I wish you the best of luck. ps…you have an outstanding blog!
Cheryl Boyd would be great for President of Red Sox Nation