Wins keep eluding Beckett, Red Sox
Josh Beckett didn't make himself available to comment about his start Wednesday night, so he didn't offer an explanation for the wild pitch in the seventh inning that allowed the decisive run to score in the Boston Red Sox's 5-3 loss to the Rangers at Texas.
However, it isn't difficult to explain the Red Sox's 49-50 record. They are 13-24 in games started by Beckett and Jon Lester. And if that statistic doesn't improve, it hardly will matter whether general manager Ben Cherington makes any additions before Tuesday's trade deadline.
Beckett has won only one decision since a 3-2 victory May 20 in Philadelphia. Since then, he's 1-5 with a 4.73 ERA in nine starts sandwiched around an 18-day stint on the disabled list with a sore right shoulder.
On Wednesday night, the Red Sox staked him to a 2-0 lead on a run generated by Jacoby Ellsbury's leadoff walk in the first inning and Will Middlebrooks' solo homer in the fourth. But Beckett gave up three runs in the fourth on five hits, including a pair of two-out singles by Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus.
Otherwise, the Rangers didn't score again until the seventh, and the run was self-inflicted. With one out, Beckett hit Andrus, and after striking out Josh Hamilton, he gave up a single to Adrian Beltre. The wild pitch, a 1-0 changeup, veered away from catcher Kelly Shoppach and skipped to the backstop. Andrus scored easily to open a 4-3 lead.
Manager Bobby Valentine visited the mound two pitches before the fateful wild pitch. He said later he had no doubt Beckett had enough left to stay in the game, even with his pitch count having reached 98 on another steamy Texas night.
"It's tough," said Dustin Pedroia, whose solo homer in the sixth inning tied the game. "It looked like the ball kind of cut, and at the last second, it got by (Shoppach). Any loss is frustrating."
