The Red Sox and White Sox are ready to finish up their series, with Josh Beckett taking on Gavin Floyd as Boston goes for the sweep.
Kevin Youkilis and Paul Konerko were both late scratches, Konerko with a stiff neck, and Youkilis with a stiff back. The Sox will have to survive with Nick Punto batting seventh for the day.
We'll keep you up-to-date on all the action as it goes down in U.S. Cellular Field.
Red Sox 1, White Sox 4, Final -- The Sox have the best part of the order up, but Pedroia, Gonzalez, and Ortiz go down 1-2-3 to end the game and Boston's winning streak.
Red Sox 1, White Sox 4, End 8th -- A beginning of rust and misfortune for Rich Hill, who walks two and has a dribbler that stays on the infield grass go for a single. A double play ball from A.J. Pierzynski gets him a pair of outs, but Junichi Tazawa gives up a flare of a single to Danny Viciedo, and the White Sox get a helpful insurance run.
Red Sox 1, White Sox 3, Mid 8th -- Three pinch hitters--Lars Anderson for Marlon Byrd, Jarrod Saltalamacchia for Kelly Shoppach, and Darnell McDonald for Ryan Sweeney--record three outs as Bobby Valentine tries to play platoon splits. Mike Aviles is stranded at first, leaving the Sox with just three outs to keep their winning streak alive.
Red Sox 1, White Sox 3, End 7th -- Bobby Valentine is pretty clearly trying to ruin his starters, letting Beckett stay on the mound after a single and a walk with over 110 pitches on his arm. Brent Lillibridge manages to work an 11-pitch at bat, leaving Beckett with a ridiculous count of 126 before he's pulled for Scott Atchison.
Valentine is lucky that Atchison managed to strand all three baserunners with a fly ball, but a dumb move is a dumb move, and it's hardly his first.
Red Sox 1, White Sox 3, Mid 7th -- The no-hitter is over, as are the shutout and Gavin Floyd's day.
Dustin Pedroia did the honors of ending the no-no, getting ahead in the count 2-1 and squaring up a fastball for a solidly hit ground ball up the middle. Floyd would battle back, striking out Adrian Gonzalez and making the big-hitting first baseman look frankly a little foolish swinging at a pitch over the opposite batter's box, but he could not get David Ortiz, surrendering a line drive that hugged the line in right for a double.
While Pedroia could not score on Ortiz' single, Floyd would quickly find himself with a third hit to his name, as Cody Ross placed a perfect ground ball through the left side of the infield for an RBI single. Addison Reed would come in to finish things off, getting Nick Punto to ground out to end the inning.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 3, End 6th -- While Gavin Floyd has been the obvious star of the day so far, Josh Beckett hasn't been too bad himself since the first. PIcking up his eighth strikeout of the day on Adam Dunn, Beckett is now back in quality start territory--something which seemed very unlikely to happen after the first.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 3, Mid 6th -- Floyd goes right back to being perfect, despite getting behind all three batters. He's through six now without a hit.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 3, End 5th -- Another strong inning for Josh Beckett, who gets both Alejandro De Aza and Alex Rios on strikes in a 1-2-3 frame. Beckett's kept his pitch count down since the first as well, and should have enough gas left to go past the sixth barring a tough inning.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 3, Mid 5th -- Floyd's perfection comes to an end with a 2-out walk of Cody Ross, but the Sox remain both hitless and runless.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 3, End 4th -- One cannot help but wonder if this game would be going differently had Beckett been mixing all his pitches from the beginning, rather than sitting exclusively on the fastball. Despite allowing a two-out single, Beckett escapes the fourth unharmed, striking out both Fukudome and Escobar in the process.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 3, Mid 4th -- The White Sox are almost halfway to their second perfect game in the week, as Gavin Floyd continues to hit his spots and get Red Sox batters out. Dustin Pedroia goes lunging at a 1-2 curveball well outside for strike three, and Floyd makes it twelve straight retired to start the game.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 3, End 3rd -- Josh Beckett avoids any more damage in the third, but the confidence inspired by the second is gone. After striking out Alejandro De Aza to start the inning, Beckett allowed a line drive single to Brent Lillibridge, and nearly had Alex Rios make it 5-0 with a very loud fly ball to left that likely stayed in the park only due to the weather. A walk to Adam Dunn put two on with two out, but Cody Ross was able to track down A.J. Pierzynski's soft flare to left for the third out.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 3, Mid 3rd -- That's nine up, nine down for the Red Sox lineup against Gavin Floyd. These three, however, are not the most surprising of outs. Nick Punto, Kelly Shoppach, and Marlon Byrd do not a strong end of the lineup make.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 3, End 2nd -- After getting beaten up with his fastball in the first, Josh Beckett falls back on his secondary pitches and records a 1-2-3 innings with the outs coming on two curveballs and a changeup.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 3, Mid 2nd -- Floyd is doing a bang-up job of following Jake Peavy so far, flashing an impressive curveball for strikeouts against Adrian Gonzalez (swinging through one that dived out of the zone) and Cody Ross (looking as it dropped down into the zone for strike three). David Ortiz did hit one a long way to right-center, but he got under it just a little too much, keeping it in the yard for the out.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 3, End 1st -- So much for Josh Beckett being the rock. After three straight quality starts, Josh Beckett is going to be hard pressed to make it four today. The White Sox jumped all over Beckett in the first, scoring three runs to put the Sox in a sizable early hole. Getting ahead of Alejandro De Aza 0-2, Beckett failed to put him away, and had a 2-2 fastball dug out for a ringing single to right. A sacrifice bunt put a runner in scoring position for Alex Rios, who made good by shooting a ground ball through the left side for the RBI.
The real damage, however, would come from Adam Dunn. Falling behind the powerful first baseman 2-0 and then 3-1, Beckett left a fastball up and over the plate--an all-too-tempting target for Dunn, who knocked it a mile to right for a two-run shot.
Red Sox 0, White Sox 0, Mid 1st -- Gavin Floyd was tossed around as a possible trade target over the offseason, and the first inning gave a decent idea of why the Sox may have wanted him. Using his standard fastball to get ahead in the count against Mike Aviles, Ryan Sweeney, and Dustin Pedroia, Floyd's cutter and curveball served to finish the job with two flyouts and a strikeout of Sweeney.
For more Boston Red Sox coverage, visit our team page or our blog Over The Monster.