The Red Sox could not pick up their second straight sweep Sunday afternoon, falling to a dominant Gavin Floyd 4-1 as they saw their six-game winning streak snapped.
Getting the start for the Red Sox, Josh Beckett began the game in poor form. Relying almost exclusively on his fastball, Beckett saw the White Sox jump on him for three runs, with Adam Dunn capping the inning off with a two-run shot very deep to right.
Beckett would recover, however, as he began to incorporate his changeup and, more importantly, curveball. Picking up eight strikeouts along the way, Beckett finished 6.2 innings before being removed from the game, only getting into trouble in the third and, when Bobby Valentine left him in for far too long, again in the seventh.
Gavin Floyd blew right through the first inning, on the other hand, 1-2-3. He did the same in the second, and the third, and the fourth, only surrendering his first baserunner on a walk in the fifth, and then his first hit to Dustin Pedroia in the seventh. The Sox would manage to score Pedroia on a ground ball single from Cody Ross.
Unfortunately, that would be all the Sox would manage. Addison Reed managed to end the seventh without further damage, brought the White Sox two outs into the eight, and then handed the ball off to Joe Thornton for the save.
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A Bad Day For Gonzalez: After pushing across the only run of the game on Saturday, Adrian Gonzalez was completely absent today, striking out on a number of ugly swings throughout the game. Of course, Gonzo wasn't completely spectacular last April either, so it could just be another slow start before a hot finish.
Josh Beckett Survives: If Beckett hadn't been so fastball-heavy in the first, this may have been a very different game. Even with the bad first weighing him down, however, Beckett managed to recover for a strong start, keeping his status as the rotation's anchor intact for another turn through the starting five.
All Eyes On Clay: Having fallen back beneath .500 after finally recovering from their 4-10 start, the Sox now turn to Clay Buchholz to salvage an even April. Unfortunately for the Sox, Clay hasn't exactly been good about keeping runs off the board of late. If they're to get back to even, then they'll need a rebound from Buchholz against the no-offense Athletics.