Boston & Beckett Stifle Yankees 4-0

A small adjustment here, a minor change there and what do you get? I'll tell you...a spine-chillingly tremendous eight inning performance by Josh Beckett. Check out these numbers. He was able to go eight innings. He allowed zero runs, only two hits and walked only one. He retired the last fourteen batters in a row before Papelbon finished the game with a goose egg ninth. Beckett's pitch count was a paltry 102. We all have to hope he can keep this up. That was a great hitting Yankee lineup that Josh plowed through as if they were ghostly apparitions, wispy fumes of nothingness. Here's the Boston first baseman, Adrian Gonzalez...

“This game was big for a lot of reasons. We needed a win, we beat the Yankees and we won a series. But it starts with Josh. That was huge.’’

And here is the captain of the New York Yankees, the overrated Derek Jeter. Hey, at least he was being honest...

“He was probably as good today as we’ve seen him in quite some time. He’s always a challenge, but that’s as good as I’ve seen him since I don’t remember when.’’

I watched some of this game during periods engrossed in the goings on at the Masters and I knew Beckett had it. Let's hope he can keep it! If that happens it would just be Lackey and the other big question mark, Daisuke Matsuzaka, who have to get their acts together. Buchholz will be just fine. He signed an extension with the club yesterday. Good for him.

Today the Tampa Bay Rays, WITH Johnny Damon and without Manny Ramirez, come to Boston for the start of a three game set. Here are your pitching matchups...

Mon. 11 TB** 7:10 PM ET ESPN/NESN** D. Matsuzaka (0-1) vs. J. Hellickson (0-1)
Tue. 12 TB** 7:10 PM ET SUN/NESN** J. Lester (0-0) vs. D. Price (0-2)
Wed. 13 TB** 7:10 PM ET SUN/NESN** J. Lackey (1-1) vs. J. Shields (0-1)

In case you were wondering, yes, I STILL shudder when I see John Lackey's name on the pitching schedule. Since he joined the Sox, that's been the norm so why stop now? I can't wait for him to be an un-shudderingly trustworthy pitcher. That day will come...soon, as we make our run towards first place.

I hope you enjoyed the weekend. Wow, the Masters golf tournament really heated up yesterday and I enjoyed every minute of it, especially when Tiger made his charge. Yeah, I know the young guys in contention are relatively penniless compared to Mr. Woods but the drama of Tiger's charge was worth the price of admission alone.

I hope your weekend was a terrific one and I'm glad you stopped by on this before sunrise Monday. You can simply click on this post's title for more on the Beckett gem and as always, BE WELL. I'll see you soon.