Beckett Returns To Beat Mariners (7/23/10)

The Red Sox won their second in a row last night 2-1 on the back of their pitching staff. Josh Beckett returned to the mound after being out since May to toss a solid 5 2/3 innings. His only hiccup was a first inning RBI double by Jose Lopez. Other than that, he was the ace of old scattering 8 baserunners and no further runs.

The Sox tied it in the 4th on a rbi double by Adrian Beltre who drove in Kevin Youkilis. In the top of the 5th Mike Cameron hit a gap shot which looked to be a double, however the throw by left fielder Michael Saunders sailed over shortstop Jack Wilson's head allowing Cameron to reach third. Replay's showed second basemen Chone Figgins could have cut the throw off but he never moved causing the error on Saunders. In the bottom of the 5th the dugout erupted in a brawl with Lopez, Figgins and Saunders in the middle of it. Figgins left the game and was replaced by Josh Wilson, Lopez and Saunders remained.

When Beckett faltered in the 6th, Scott Atchinson stepped in and pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing a single walk. In the top of the 7th the Sox broke through on Bill Hall's 10th homer of the year to put the Sox up for good 2-1. Daniel Bard continued his awesome regular season by pitching a perfect 8th while striking out 2. Jon Papelbon came in the 9th and got into trouble with a double to Jack Wilson and a walk to Ichiro, however a punch out of Franklin Gutierez ended the game. Papelbon picked up his 22nd save as Atchinson picked up his well deserved 2nd win.

The Sox now are 3-2 on the road trip with game 3 against Seattle tonight with hometown hero Jon Lester on the mound. With Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie, Jeremy Hermida and Manny Delcarmen back. The Sox are getting much needed bodies back on the team and are 5 healed injuries away from the opening day lineup they haven't had all year. They still have a chance to catch the Rays and Yankees but they'll have to make their run now. With all 5 starters (Lester, Beckett, John Lackey, Buchholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka) capable of pitching 7 inning 1 run ball, all the Sox need now is the offense to step up and they'll be off and running.