Beckett left the game after 3 2/3 scoreless innings. He said he stumbled in the bullpen before the game and then felt some pain on the second-to-last pitch he threw with two outs in the fourth. Then, after the next delivery, he began to limp around the mound, had a brief talk with Francona and head trainer Mike Reinold and was promptly removed from the game.
There is a great deal of uncertainty as to how long Beckett will be out, but with the right foot being his push-off foot, the team will make sure he's 100 percent before moving forward.
"It's always concerning. That's my power leg," Beckett said. "If I cut my leg off I don't think I can pitch."
Beckett will see a specialist and meet with team officials in Boston on Tuesday. At that point, there may be some understanding as to how long he will be out.
"Well, we don't know," Francona said when asked about Beckett's status. "He's sore. When we went out there to check on him, he said it was hurting him, it was getting stiff. So we got him in here, got him checked. We're going to get him back to Boston, get him checked, let the doctors, [general manager] Theo [Epstein] and everybody really give him a good look, a once over, and see what we're dealing with."
It was Beckett's shortest start since April 26, 2010, also in Toronto, where he was reached for eight runs in three innings.
If he needs to miss a start, which seems likely, the rotation going forward could look like this (considering that Erik Bedard is going to be skipped as well): Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, Andrew Miller, Kyle Weiland, John Lackey and then whoever the club can find to take Beckett's next scheduled turn on Sunday, possibly another call-up from Pawtucket.
That's something the team will have to figure out in time. For now, it needs to know the severity of the ace's ankle.
"I don't know what we'll know," Beckett said.
