Boston's Josh Beckett Once Again Returns To His 2007 Form...Red Sox 5 White Sox 1

What this 2008 Boston Red Sox team needs most is a "dependable every five days" ace. That man last year was Josh Beckett, both in the regular season and the successful postseason. And it looks like he's back, just in time for a stretch run. Yesterday, in the fourth and final game with the Chicago White Sox, Kevin Youkilis broke up the no-hit bid by Chicago's John Danks in the seventh inning with a broken bat single. At the time, the score was 1-0 Chicago and it was starting to look like Josh Beckett would again be bested by an opponent's superior starting pitching. But noooo...after a hit batsman, JD Drew put the Red Sox ahead with a double that plated two, and the Red sox took it to the Pale Hose from there. In all, Josh went eight strong, allowing that lone run on 7 hits and ZERO walks. He struck out 8 and threw a total of 104 pitches. In a word (three, actually), HE WAS SUPERB. Jonathon Papelbon made the victory official with a 12 pitch no run ninth. Here's what Boston manager Tito Francona had to say about his starter and Chicago's Danks...

"You can't predict turning the corner, but I think he's (Beckett) got a lot left in the tank for whatever we have left," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He looks strong. He's locating. And we will need him to do that."

"The way Danks was throwing, you don't want them to spread out or get an extra run, because his stuff was so good," Francona said. "Everything was working. He was throwing changeup, he was throwing fastball, cutter, curveball, he had everything working. But Beckett kept them to one run. Gave us a chance."

Peter here, and the Red Sox took what was offered and recorded a victory and a split in Chicago. So the road trip was the kind of success that we all envisioned before the season started and the road losses started to pile up like garbage in a dump, smelly garbage at that, putrid and rat infested.

It's Fenway Park time once again as Boston begins a three game set with the Texas Rangers. Here are the all-important pitching matchups...

Scott Feldman (4-5, 4.82 ERA) vs. Charlie Zink (0-0) tonight
Luis Mendoza (3-5, 7.50) vs. Jon Lester (10-4, 3.23) Wednesday
Vicente Padilla (12-6, 4.85) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (13-2, 2.90) Thursday

First pitch time at Fenway will be at 7:05pm EDT, and I'll be very interested in watching Charlie Zink. Many say that he has come into his own this year at Pawtucket, where he has a record of 13-4 with a sparkling ERA of 2.89. THAT WORKS FOR ME! So my fingers are crossed...every game is vital once September approaches. Click on this post's title for more on last night's road trip conclusion, and as always, BE WELL. Your comments, as always, are welcome and will be answered...every one, every time. See ya!!