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Healthy Beckett could spell trouble for Rays

Oct 11, 2008 - 10:09 AM American League Championship Series Boston leads 1-0

Boston at Tampa Bay 8:07 pm. EDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Josh Beckett has been clutch in the postseason, and the Boston Red Sox are hoping two days of extra rest helps him conjure up some more October magic.

Beckett takes the hill for just the second time in 19 days on Saturday when the Red Sox aim to take a two-games-to-none lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game Two of the American League Championship Series.

Beckett (0-0, 7.20 ERA) has been one of the best postseason pitchers in recent history, going 6-2 with a 2.09 ERA in 10 starts and 11 overall appearances this decade. However, he did not start Game One of the ALDS vs. Anaheim due to a strained oblique, and was ineffective in Game Three.

He was ripped for four runs and nine hits in five innings of a 7-5, 12-inning loss on October 5.

As a result, Boston chose to start Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game One on Friday, giving Beckett more time to rest the injury. It turned out to be a smart move as the Japanese righthander carried a no-hitter into the seventh as the Red Sox took the opener, 2-0.

Now, Boston has a chance to take command of the series behind its ace.

"He's fine physically," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "The farther he's removed from his problems of last week, he can concentrate on his routine and concentrate on pitching instead of trying to get better. If you don't physically have the stuff to do it, you're probably kind of running upstream a little bit."

Beckett said the time off has been beneficial.

"I definitely think the last five days have kind of gotten a little more normal as far as being able to do everything that I generally do," he said.

If Beckett is healthy, it's bad news for the Rays, who failed to take advantage of several scoring chances in Game One. The Rays had the bases loaded in the first, and put two runners on with no one out in the seventh and eighth innings.

"Listen, it happens," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "When you're facing very good pitching at this time of the year, they can stifle you even with nobody out. We can do the same thing to them."

Scott Kazmir (1-0, 3.38) hopes to help the Rays even the series before it heads to Boston on Monday. The lefthander labored through 5 1/3 innings, but picked up the win in his postseason debut on October 3. The Rays' longest tenured pitcher allowed two runs and eight hits in a 6-2 victory over Chicago.

Kazmir went 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in four starts against Boston this season.

"The main thing for me is keep the first guy off every inning, off the base path," Kazmir said.

"I think getting that first out is always big for any team, but especially this team, because if you make one little mistake, you walk one here, you walk one there, those guys are going to find a way to get around the bases and score."