It took until April 10 -- nine days after they opened the 2011 season -- but the Boston Red Sox got their second win of the campaign. The offense scraped together four runs, highlighted by Marco Scutaro's two-RBI double in the seventh and David Ortiz's run-scoring double in the eighth, to beat the Yankees Sunday night, 4-0. But the real story of the night was Josh Beckett, and his dominant pitching performance (one which the Red Sox desperately needed).
Beckett allowed just two hits over eight shutout innings while striking out 10 batters, the first time he managed that since July of 2009. He was exactly what Boston needed, writes Over The Monster.
Facing the Yankees with CC Sabathia starting and an ugly situation in the standings, the Red Sox needed a strong start out of Beckett now more than ever. But few could have imagined he would provide anything like this. From the very beginning, Beckett was on fire, striking out five batters and allowing just two baserunners through the first three innings. His two-seamer had unreal movement, and his curveball was not only breaking perfectly, but he was locating it for strikes. He only even gave up one fly ball out. ...
By the end of eight innings, Beckett had allowed just four men to reach base, and had taken out 10 by way of the K. The Yankees just didn't stand a chance.
The Red Sox open a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night at 7:10 p.m. ET.