5th Inning Trouble For Beckett

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett had his troubles last year. Between a nagging injury and a slow recovery, Josh just wasn't himself and before this 2011 spring training began, he vowed to redeem himself. Yesterday he pitched four plus innings. The four innings were fine but it's getting to be that time of the year when, if possible, Terry Francona likes to see five plus innings from his starters. Well, yesterday, four out of five had to do for Mr. Beckett. He was cruising, ahead after four innings by a score of 3-1. But the roof caved in on him and his team in the fifth inning, an inning in which he surrendered six (!) runs. At the end of the fifth, instead of a 3-1 Sox lead, they trailed by a score of 7-3. That was all she wrote. Faint echoes of a fat lady singing something reverberated thought the Florida air. Here's the Josh man himself speaking of why something good turned into something so bad...

"It's a shame that a whole outing gets ruined by one inning, but that's kind of the case. I feel like I pitched well in the middle three innings. That's not how it's supposed to end, because I was feeling good. I think I've caught back up completely from the concussion. I didn't feel tired."

That's good news. The concussion and all its after affects have slowly disappeared. Hey Josh, it's only February 14th. There's no hurry whatsoever. Stretch yourself to seven solid innings and our bullpen will nail the game game after that. FAITH IN THE 'PEN! That will be the key in 2011. I just know it. It's the Yankees and the Red Sox tonight at 7:05pm EDT. The game will be televised by NESN and in some areas, ESPN 2. Enjoy. Crawford and Gonzo are going to be starting for Boston. The pin stripers wanted Gonzalez big time. It was not to be.

You can click on this post's title for the entire month's Boston Red Sox schedule. If a particular game is going to be televised on NESN, it'll tell you. It's a very handy and informative look while you're on your quest for the Sox. I hope you had a great weekend and as always, BE WELL.