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Beckett earns 20th win as Red Sox end skid

Sep 22, 2007 - 4:15 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) - The Boston Red Sox turned to ace Josh Beckett to stop the bleeding.

Beckett scattered four hits in six innings and David Ortiz drove in four runs to lead the Red Sox to an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Friday.

Boston (91-63), which had dropped four in a row and five of six coming into Friday's contest, pushed its lead in American League East back to 2 1/2 games over the New York Yankees (88-65), who suffered a 5-4 loss in 14 innings to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Beckett (20-6) picked up his 20th win, becoming the first pitcher in the majors since 2005 to reach the milestone. The 27-year-old righthander became the 47th Red Sox pitcher to win 20 games and the first since Curt Schilling won 21 in 2004.

"Twenty wins, it means a lot," Beckett said. "A lot of hard work from different people. They pick me up on days when I am not 100 percent. It takes a lot of people to win that many games."

He yielded one run and struck out eight while walking two to win his fourth consecutive start and sixth in his last seven decisions.

"To win 20, he has been on a pretty good roll all year," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "He used all his pitches and he didn't stray from his game plan. He only got stronger as the game went on."

Ortiz broke an early 1-1 deadlock with an RBI single in the third and put the game out of reach with a three-run blast off rookie lefthander Jeff Ridgeway in the eighth. The All-Star slugger was not expected to get the start with tough lefthander Scott Kazmir on the mound and a balking knee, but he asked his way into the lineup and came through with some much-needed offensive punch.

"David knows how to play the game," Francona said. "It's time to be a leader. We have guys like that that can get us going."

A pair of relievers bridged the gap to embattled righthander Eric Gagne, who turned in just his second 1-2-3 inning since coming over to Boston from the Texas Rangers at the trading deadline.

"It worked out really well, to get (Gagne) back in the game and throw all his pitches," Francona said. "He really threw the ball well."

Kazmir (13-9) had his four-game winning streak snapped for Tampa Bay. The 23-year-old lefthander allowed three runs - two earned - four hits and walked four in five innings while striking out nine to give him a major league-best 229 strikeouts on the season.

"Walks are going to kill you," Kazmir said. "You've got to make them hit it. If you take those walks away, it might be a different ballgame."

Jason Varitek blasted a solo homer in the eighth inning for the Red Sox, who cut their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to two. Boston also scored on a Tampa Bay throwing error in the first and a wild pitch in the third.

Mike Lowell also homered, becoming the first Red Sox third baseman with back-to-back 20-homer seasons.

"They (the Red Sox) are definitely playing to go somewhere and that matters," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "You have to suffer to a certain extent before you get to that point and we're suffering to a certain extent."

The Devil Rays' only run came in the first on rookie Delmon Young's bloop double to right field. Since a 13-4 stretch ended two weeks ago, the Devil Rays have won only two of their last 10 games.