Beckett Dominant As Sox Roll To 5th Straight
Beckett was perfect through 3 innings and didn't allow a hit until there were 2 outs in the 4th inning. His afternoon ended with 7 innings, 0 runs on 4 hits, 9 strikeouts and a pair of walks. His ERA dropped by a full run to 4.97.
The Red Sox got on the board with a solo home run into their own bullpen by David Ortiz in the bottom of the 3rd inning off Mariners starter Blake Beavan, his 8th of the season. He, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Mike Aviles each had 2 hits. Aviles also drove in a pair of runs.
Rich Hill and Alfredo Aceves each threw a perfect inning in relief.
NOTES - The team honored Tim Wakefield, the winningest pitcher in the history of Fenway Park, with a pre-game ceremony. Among the highlights were a speech by David Ortiz and the arrival of former Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli via police car.
3rd baseman Kevin Youkilis will begin a rehab assignment with AAA Pawtucket tomorrow. It's expected that Youkilis will return to 3rd base shortly thus bringing up the issue of what to do with Will Middlebrooks who has certainly shown that he can hit at the major league level.
