Beckett: Pitching Against the Yankees Right Now!

One of my 500 Beckett pictures... I sort of chose randomly.

Here we are, half way through the rubber game, and I haven't broken my TV yet. I'm not entirely happy with how this is going. We had that play with Youk at second that sort of gave me heartburn. Luckily, Cameron was able to still get the one run across, so I didn't have to vomit blood. So far, though, they've stranded EIGHT RUNNERS. I've had about enough of this nonsense, so I'd like to see them cut the shit. I know they're trying, but I think I need them to try a little bit harder.

My favorite picture of Pedroia, spring training 2008

As I was writing, Pedroia got his third hit of the night. Pay attention, everyone else on the team. Munchkin is showing you how to do it. Now, try it yourselves please. Ernie got whacked pretty good on the left hand by a rogue Fatass pitch. His pinky is swelling a bit, but I'm really hoping that it's not going to cause any problems for him. We need him to get into a rhythm, and I'd like him to stay off the DL.

Bases are loaded in the sixth. Sabathia is at 118 pitches, and Youk is coming up. They're changing pitchers, so maybe Youk can actually, I don't know, hit? I should just call him .125 like I was doing at the park yesterday. Everyone was being heckled by their batting averages. Time for .125 to wake up. Edit... seriously, Youk... f*n enough. I'm beginning to hate you again. Maybe instead of .125, I should just call you by your rightful name... rally killer.

As for Josh... well, let's say that I haven't been yelling TOO much at him. With one out in the top of the 7th, he's at 90 pitches and he's got a sick curveball going tonight. He just struck out Granderson and got Swisher to ground to Pedroia, still under 100 pitches.

I guess I'm sort of turning this into a live blog... that wasn't really my intention, but if it works, it works. I'm finding myself not hating ESPN as much now that Joe Morgan is gone. I would still much rather listen to Remy and Don, but I know very well that it could be worse.

Bottom 7th, Tek just singled to load the bases with one out. This is Tek's first hit of the season, and I literally threw my hands up in the air and shouted 'woo!', startling my cat. Holy cow, Scutaro just hit a double! Insurance runs! It's nice to see guys who previously couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat click in, even if it's only for this inning. Scoots' hit sort of broke up the tedium of watching our guys do nothing with runners in scoring position, so, thanks, Marco. I'll never complain about someone knocking Flyswatter out of the game. 3-0 Sox! Hooray! And, of course, Ernie just blew a bases-loaded two-out situation by swinging at the first pitch. See? That's why I tell you guys not to do that!

Alright, top of the 8th... Beckett's got a little bit of breathing room now, but I'm hoping that doesn't make him complaicent... though Bard, Jenks, and Paps didn't pitch yesterday, so they should all be available. He's still got that pretty curve going, which I appreciate. Ok, so I blinked and the inning was over, with Josh now just over 100 pitches. In the last three innings, he's thrown 9 pitches, 8 pitches, and 8 pitches. Wow. This is the Beckett I fell in love with. Nice to see he still has it, even if it's not consistent.

Bottom of the 8th.... Youk re-introduces himself to first base. Maybe they just aren't really on speaking terms right now, but I'm hoping they can put their differences aside and resume regular visitation. I know I'm picking on him a lot, despite the one hit and two walks, but I'm allowed to do that. Oh my, Papi just hit one so hard, I think the bat cried. It went to the deepest part of the park, just barely missed a home run. He got himself an RBI double, though... 4-0 Sox. THAT'S what I like to see, Large Father. CRW is pinch running for Papi with Cam at bat. He bunts, moves CRW over to 3rd with one out and Drew up. JD pops out to the 1B, and *squee*, my Jason is up. Tek strikes up, but my love for him does not fade even a bit. The Sox have 12 hits in this game.

Heading to the top of the 9th, Beckett is done, and what a game he pitched. Paps is coming out to close, though it's not a save situation. The final line on Beckett was 8 IP, 2H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K, 103 pitches. You literally cannot ask for a better start from Josh. You can't even ask. You're not going to get it.

Paps gets out number one, striking out Gardner on a close outside pitch. Jeter grounds to Munchkin on one pitch. Tex strikes out, and is pissed. Who cares! 2 out of 3 aint bad, boys! What a game! See you all tomorrow!