Beckett Is Back! Youkilis Is White Hot! They POWER The Red Sox To A Tuesday Night Win

Seamless....that's what Josh Beckett's return to the Boston Red Sox was Tuesday night. He baffled the Cleveland Indians, using all of his pitches over 7 innings while allowing only 3 hits and 2 runs while striking out 7. And his finger gave him no problem, no problem at all. For more on that, read this, from the Herald.......

"The important thing for Beckett was that after 91 pitches, his blister-prone finger was not an issue at all.
“If you can take anything good out of that seventh inning it’s that my finger didn’t blow up on me,” said Beckett. “The bullpen came in and did a great job. We scored enough runs. It was a good win.”
Beckett went on the disabled list after the cut appeared in his May 13 start. The fact that the Sox were oblivious to the absence of their best starter by going 11-4 speaks volumes about the special roll they are on right now.
“I think we were smart with this thing,” said Beckett. “The medical staff, trainers, everybody was real supportive. They even got some hand specialists and surgeons in there and those guys definitely didn’t go unnoticed in this thing. (Medical director) Dr. (Tom) Gill and those guys, they stopped at nothing to make sure that we nipped this thing in the bud.”

Peter here, and that's the best news the Sox could possibly have received yesterday. Beckett is back and as good as he was before the finger incident, and he is now 8-0. Here's what Eric Wedge, the Indian's skipper, had to say about Josh...

"He looks like a guy who hadn't missed a game," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "We were hoping to make him work a little harder and maybe get him out of there a little earlier, but he had it all going tonight."

Peter back here. For the Red Sox, EVERYTHING is going right! And there's more.....Kevin Youkilis remains white hot, with a 21 game hitting streak. During the streak he has batted .441 with 13 doubles, 6 homers and 21 RBIs. Quite a stretch (thank you Hartford Courant). Only JD Drew, Coco Crisp and Wily Mo Pena faied to produce base hits. But the 'pen was nearly flawless in closing the game....Lopez and Donnelly in the 8th, and our DARKMAN for the save, another one, his fourth, in the ninth, throwing 23 pitches in a one base on ball 2 strikeout frame. With the day off on Thursday, Paps will be ready tonight if Daisuke needs ANYONE to sign, seal and deliver the sweep. Our Papi will be back tonght, batting third behind Manny. Just where we like him to be.
So these unforgettable 2007 Boston Red Sox move to a record of 36-15, 21 games over .500 with a .706 winning clip. They are truly amazing and have one more to play with the Indians before a day off and a three game set against the Yankees, who again lost last night. They are 14 1/2 (!!) games behind us. Pettitte pitched great, but the Yankee lumber was made of balsam wood. Tonight it will be a healthy Daisuke Matsuzaka, going for win number 8, pitted against the Indian's Byrd. We go for another sweep with one of our best hurlers. 7pm.....Fenway Park, Boston, Mass. United States of America. The hub of the universe, and home of the best team in all of baseball.

Click on this post's title for Steve Buckley's Boston Herald article........recommended reading for Sox fans.