Mariners 4 - 7 Red Sox
Final
  for this game

Beckett heads to the hill for BoSox against Seattle

Jul 22, 2011 - 9:33 PM

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(Sports Network) - Scoring runs hasn't been a problem for the Boston Red Sox this season. However, that wasn't the case in Josh Beckett's last appearance.

On Saturday, the right-hander hopes for a little more run support than he received his last time out when the Red Sox continue their three-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park.

The high-powered Red Sox offense took a rare night off last Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays, as two teams went 15 scoreless innings before Boston pulled out a 1-0 win in 16 innings at Tropicana Field.

Beckett was long gone by the time the game was decided, but it didn't erase a marvelous outing from the right-hander, as he gave up just one hit over eight scoreless innings and struck out six without walking a batter.

"It was actually two games," said Beckett, who lowered his earned run average on the year to 2.12 to go along with his 8-3 ledger. "It felt like two games for everybody that was on the bench. We had rally caps going and everything. It was pretty good for us to be out there for that. This was a pretty wild one. It was fun to be a part of though."

Beckett has been tremendous over his career against the Mariners, posting a 5-1 lifetime mark to go along with a 3.11 ERA in seven starts.

The 1-0 win last Sunday was certainly an aberration for a Red Sox team that has scored a major league-best 519 runs this season. At the center of it lately has been second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who headed into this series riding a career-best 18-game hitting streak, while reaching base safely in his last 30 games.

He is batting .367 over the hit streak with seven homers and 16 RBI.

Seattle, meanwhile, is at the other end of the spectrum. Heading into action on Friday the Mariners had dropped 12 in a row and 16 of their last 20 overall.

"It's just the way it works. That's why it's a streak," manager Eric Wedge said. "It's something you like to stay away from, but I've been through it before. These guys have been through it before. It doesn't make it easy, but you've got to toughen up, man. You can't give in to it. I can't say it enough -- our guys have got to be tougher. I do think that's a big part of it. If they can toughen up a little bit from this, then we'll get something out of it and then work to the point where something like this doesn't happen again."

On Saturday Seattle will pin its hopes on former first round pick Blake Beavan.

Beavan absorbed his first big league loss on Sunday against Texas, as he allowed three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, dropping him to 1-1 on the year to go along with a 2.70 ERA.

"What those guys do best is hitting balls over the plate, so I just tried to stay down and make quality pitches and try to get a ground ball," said Beavan, who hasn't given up more than three runs in any of his three outings so far.






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