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Red Sox-Rays Preview

Sep 2, 2009 - 4:33 AM By MATT BROWN STATS Editor

Boston (76-54) at Tampa Bay (71-59), 7:08 p.m. EDT

The Boston Red Sox insist there's nothing physically wrong with Josh Beckett, even if hardly anything has gone right for him in recent starts.

Boston's lineup can rarely do anything right against Tampa Bay's Matt Garza.

Seeking to stay within shouting distance of the Red Sox in the AL wild-card picture, the Rays will send Garza to the mound Wednesday night to oppose the slumping Beckett.

Beckett (14-5, 3.80 ERA) leads the Red Sox in wins, but his Cy Young Award hopes have taken a major hit in recent weeks. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 9.82 ERA and 10 home runs allowed in 18 1-3 innings over his last three starts. He's surrendered 22 homers this season, 12 of which have come in his last four outings.

Beckett gave up five runs in five innings Friday against Toronto. He also issued five walks in a start for the first time since 1996, though he escaped without a decision after Boston rallied for a 6-5 win. Despite Beckett's recent struggles, Red Sox manager Terry Francona and pitching coach John Farrell both deny their ace is injured or fatigued.

"The one thing he won't back away from is a challenge, whether it's preparation for his next start or accomplishing some of the goals he has," Farrell told the team's official Web site. "The short-term goal is to regain that same type of consistency. This isn't a health-related issue. This isn't a fatigue-related issue. This is a little bit more of just some timing in his delivery to allow that execution at the bottom of the strike zone to be more consistent."

Beckett's only shorter outing than last Friday's start came at Tropicana Field on April 30, when he gave up seven runs and 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings of a 13-0 loss. The Rays' starter and winner in that contest was Garza (7-9, 3.95), who held the Red Sox to one hit and one walk while striking out a season-high 10 in 7 2-3 innings.

While Garza's overall numbers this season are underwhelming, he continues to baffle the Red Sox. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA and 15 hits allowed in 28 2-3 innings over four starts versus Boston, and 5-9 with a 4.39 ERA against all other opponents. Including two wins in last October's AL championship series, Garza is 7-1 with a 2.66 ERA in 12 starts against the Red Sox.

He dominates most of their biggest bats. Boston slugger David Ortiz is 2 for 18 with nine strikeouts against Garza, Mike Lowell is 3 for 20, J.D. Drew is 2 for 16 and Dustin Pedroia is 5 for 26.

With their playoff hopes starting to fade, the Rays (71-60) sorely need Garza to stifle the Red Sox (77-54) again. Tampa Bay fell a season-high six games behind Boston for the wild card Tuesday night, losing the series opener 8-4. Jason Bay, Drew and Kevin Youkilis all homered to help the Red Sox win for the 11th time in 14 games, though the Rays remain determined.

"I'm not frustrated at all," manager Joe Maddon said after his club's third loss in its last five.

"They beat us. We made some mistakes. It happens. What's that game time - 7:08 (Wednesday) night? We'll show up. I promise you."

Carlos Pena continued to sizzle for Tampa Bay, going 2 for 4 with his league-leading 39th homer. He's batting .350 with eight home runs and 19 RBIs over his last 11 games.

Pena is 3 for 22 with a homer and 13 strikeouts against Beckett.