Josh Beckett has ten strikeouts through the first six innings of Sunday's game against the Astros, but is stuck in a 1-1 tie as the Red Sox have left eight men on base.
After leaving the bases loaded in the third inning, the Sox did so again in the fourth, but managed to push a run across when Jason Varitek hit a bases loaded ground ball to first. Brett Wallace elected to go home with the ball, but his throw was high, and Carlos Corporan couldn't come down with it, allowing Kevin Youkilis to score the first run of the game.
With no more coming across, however, and the Sox wasting a pair of leadoff walks in the fifth, Beckett was forced to walk a thin line. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite up to the task. Wallace atoned for his earlier mistake by leading off the fifth with a loud double to the wall, and then came around to score on Angel Sanchez' pinch-hit single.
The Sox are into the bullpen now, but only picked up one hit in the sixth. They'll need more than that if they want to back up Beckett for a win.