Beckett digs deep to dominate another postseason game
Never write off the Red Sox with their backs against the wall, especially when Josh Beckett is on the mound.
<p class="MsoNormal">The Red Sox continued to be one of the toughest teams to close out, while Beckett added to his résumé as this era's dominant postseason pitcher.
<p class="MsoNormal">Boston beat the Indians, 7-1, at Jacobs Field in Thursday's Game 5 of the ALCS to stave off elimination.
<p class="MsoNormal">The 27-year-old Texan shut down the Indians for a second time and gave Boston plenty of hope in the best-of-seven series. The Red Sox trail 3-2, but they are headed home for Game 6, and they hope for a Game 7.
<p class="MsoNormal">And if anyone knows about postseason comebacks it is the Red Sox, who are 22-11 all-time in games where they can be eliminated.
<p class="MsoNormal">Only three times has a team in ALCS history come back from a 3-1 deficit, with the Red Sox owning two of them. They did it 1986 to the Angels and more memorably in 2004 to the Yankees when they rallied from a 3-0 deficit.
<p class="MsoNormal">Seven Red Sox remain from that team that went on to win the World Series.
<p class="MsoNormal">Beckett is not one of those seven, but he has starred in a World Series before. It was in 2003 when he made his name as a big-game pitcher by beating the Yankees in New York in the decisive sixth game of the series. He threw a five-hit shutout at Yankee Stadium.
<p class="MsoNormal">He wasn't that dominant Thursday, but he was close.
<p class="MsoNormal">Beckett struck out 11, a season high, over eight innings. He threw 107 pitches, 74 of those strikes, as he walked just one and gave up five hits.
<p class="MsoNormal">He improved to 5-2 all-time in the postseason. He is 2-0 in this ALCS.
<p class="MsoNormal">The Indians got him for a run in the first, but he did a good job limiting the damage in what could have been a big inning. Grady Sizemore began it with a double, and Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a single.
<p class="MsoNormal">Beckett then got Travis Hafner to hit into a double play. A run scored, but the rally was over.
<p class="MsoNormal">Beckett gave up another hit and a walk to the next five hitters he faced before locking down the Indians. He retired nine straight before Casey Blake's two-out single in the fifth. When Sizemore followed with a single through the middle, the Indians looked to have something going.
<p class="MsoNormal">But Beckett dug a little deeper. He struck out Cabrera, who waved at a 97-mph fastball to end the fifth. That started a stretch where Beckett retired 10 of 11 before leaving after eight innings. Only his error on a comebacker by Kenny Lofton allowed the Indians a base runner.
<p class="MsoNormal">Lofton and Beckett got into a shouting match in the fifth. Benches emptied, but the dust-up did little to rattle Beckett.
<p class="MsoNormal">Boston's offense also showed life Thursday after not doing much the previous 2 1/2 games.
<p class="MsoNormal">Eight of nine Red Sox starters got a hit. Lead-off man Dustin Pedroia, who had struggled, got a pair of hits. Hitters two through four -- that's Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez -- continued to be a menacing trio.
<p class="MsoNormal">They combined to drive in six, half of those coming from Youkilis. He homered and tripled.
<p class="MsoNormal">-- The Repository