Beckett's Back

Most important: Manny's MRI showed no structural damage of the knee. "He does have some tendinitis in his patella, which we kind of knew already," said Francona. And Varitek, according to Francona, is about "a week away from playing." Good news all around.

1st inning, Beckett got the 1st 2 outs, then Orlando doubled and Vlad got hit. Don't hit Guerrero, I like him! He got his next out, so 0-0 after one.

The score was locked until the 4th when David Ortiz did what we kind of knew he would: hit a HR! The commentators told a story about David Ortiz and an elevator operator, saying the operator felt so good after speaking with Ortiz because he was so kind to him. I ask again, how can you not love him?

Beckett made a great play in the 4th when Vlad hit one right back to him and Josh stuck his glove out and caught it after a bounce. It was pretty. He was really sharp last night, and he needed to be after that Yankees catastrophe. Through 5, he had only thrown 47 pitches (36 strikes), compared to Weaver's 87.

I asked Lowell nicely to get on base and not 5 seconds later he was on with a single. Wily Mo and Cora followed that up with more singles to load the bases with one out. Mirabelli hit one that looked like it'd be a double play, but instead of throwing it to the waiting 2nd baseman, Orlando ran with it to 2nd and Cora slid right into him (a great play by Cora). Cora was safe, Orlando almost got his knee blown out, Lowell scored, and Mirabelli was out at 1st. 2-0 going into the home half of the 7th.

Beckett had to leave that inning with a cut on his finger; he left one on and one with a 2-0 count. He was really brilliant, not allowing a single run all evening. I'm so happy that he was able to pitch well, he really needed it and I think us fans needed a good one out of him, too. So in came Timlin, and he walked the guy. 2 on with no outs. Triple play? Nope, a wild pitch to get them to 2nd and 3rd!

Well, a single scored a runner but the other guy was out at the plate. But before I could get too upset, Timlin got a pop up and they only needed one more out for Beckett to still get the win. And Timlin got his final out on a fly out to Kapler. I really wanted Beckett to get another W.

Papelbon came in again in the 8th with 2 outs, and I was ready for a repeat of last night (except for that part when I fell asleep). And once again, it was Orlando up. He didn't strike out again, but he was out on 3 pitches.

Vlad started the 9th out with a base hit, Garret Anderson flew out to Coco, Juan Rivera struck out swinging, and Howie Kendrick struck out swinging. I really, really love Jon Papelbon.

So Beckett got his win and Weaver was served his first loss of the season. That is just the way it was supposed to be. And the Yankees lost, so that's one game closer to 1st.

QotD
Angels guy: "The closer you get to Papelbon, the closer you get to a loss."