Game 144: Beckett Wins 18th As Red Sox Squeeze By Orioles, 3-2 |

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Game 144: Beckett Wins 18th As Red Sox Squeeze By Orioles, 3-2

By Administrator | September 9, 2007

Josh Beckett gave the Red Sox another solid outing this afternoon in Baltimore — his sixth ‘quality start’ in his last seven outings — in leading Boston to a 3-2 win over the Orioles. In earning the win, Beckett garnered his eighteenth win of the season… he is tied for the major league lead with Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang who also won his eighteenth game this afternoon in Kansas City.

The big Texan was superb at Camden Yards — allowing only seven hits (including two solo HR) and no walks in seven innings while striking out eight Orioles hitters… in spite of this fact, the outing nearly left him without reward as he sat on the bench in the top of the eighth inning with a 2-2 tie displayed on the scoreboard. But with two outs and J D Drew perched on third base, Coco Crisp came up with a clutch rbi-single to score the winning run — thereby delivering an all-important “W” to the teams Cy Young candidate.

Beckett was relieved by Hideki Okajima (who pitched a perfect eighth inning) and Jonathan Papelbon (who pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 35th save in 37 save opportunities).

Dustin Pedroia led the offensive attack with three hits and a run scored, while Mike Lowell delivered a big two-run single in the third inning. Nick Markakis and Melvin Mora hit solo home runs for Baltimore.

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Beckett is now 18-6, with three starts remaining to reach the 20-win plateau… he has now whiffed a career-high 181 hitters this season… he is 4-0, 2.05 in his career at Camden Yards.

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The Red Sox are 54-23 at Camden Yards since 1998.

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The Yankees swept their series in Kansas City and remained 5 1/2 games behind the Sox… they have an off-day tomorrow before heading to Toronto for three games against the Blue Jays… NY comes to Boston next weekend to complete their three-city, nine-game road trip… twelve of their final nineteen games are on the road.

The pitching matchups in Toronto favor the home team: ROY-candidate Shawn Marcum (12-5, 3.74) vs struggling Philip Hughes (2-3, 5.33); Mike Mussina (who has surrendered six or more runs in 3 of his last 4 starts) vs Dustin McGowan (who has allowed three earned runs over sixteen innings in winning his last two games); and rookie Ian Kennedy vs AJ Burnett (who has allowed only one earned run in four of his last six outings).

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The Red Sox begin a three-game series against the Devil Rays tomorrow night at Fenway Park… Curt Schilling (8-6, 4.04) will be opposed by Scott Kazmir (11-8, 3.79). The game starts at 7:05 PM and will be broadcast on NESN and WRKO (680 AM).

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baseball, baltimore orioles, bosox, boston red sox, camden yards, dustin pedroia, fantasy baseball, fenway park, j d drew, major league baseball, melvin mora, nesn, nick markakis, red sox, red sox #1 fan, red sox nation, rotisserie baseball, sox #1 fan, sox1fan, sox1fan comment contest, wrko, josh beckett, jonathan papelbon, hideki okajima, coco crisp

Topics: Sox Games, Sox Players |

One Response to “Game 144: Beckett Wins 18th As Red Sox Squeeze By Orioles, 3-2”

FrankInNH Says:
September 10th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I watched the Patriots game Sunday and missed Beckett’s gem. (Yeah yeah, so shoot me.) I’d love Beckett to reach 20 wins, and it’s looking pretty good for the Texan.

The rest of the starting staff has me worried. Well, not Lester. Perhaps watching Buchholz attack the opposing batters inspired Jon to be more aggressive? I don’t care why, as long as he continues to get the first strike in there.

Curt needs to step up again tonight. He’s been getting stronger outings lately; he doesn’t seem to last as long as earlier in the season, but I’ll settle for six (even five) good innings. Tito has to watch him closely and not let things get away if he tires.

Wakie should bounce back - I’m willing to assume that his week off left him rusty. His last outing was so very poor that it must be an oddity that we won’t see again.

Dice-K? I dunnno’. I hope he’s only worn out. That can be fixed if he’ll admit it. Tito sticks with his guys and will keep Dicer in the rotation as long as he claims he can do it…

Go Sox!
–F