BOSTON –– These boos weren't injury related. These boos weren't golf related. These boos were strictly performance related.
Making his first start since July 31, Josh Beckett didn't play up to par. The Red Sox right-hander took the mound in Wednesday's 10-9 loss, allowing three home runs and a season-high eight runs to the Rangers, as his season continues to spiral out of control.
"I felt good out there today," Beckett said. "I just left some balls up. They took advantage of them. The ball that [Josh] Hamilton hit, if it's down a little bit more, it's probably not a home run. He did a good job of getting to it, but it was still up. The ball [Geovany] Soto hit, it was up and in the middle of the plate. You can't pitch there against these guys. These guys are good."
Like most cases this season, Beckett's woes started in the first inning. After allowing the first two batters of the game to reach base, he surrendered a triple to Hamilton, putting the Sox in an early a 3-0 hole. Beckett now owns a 10.42 ERA in the opening frame this season.
"He made some good pitches and I guess some not so good pitches and he finished the fifth inning pretty good," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. "Just the bottom of the order, I thought he could maybe squeak one out. I sure wasn't expecting Soto to hit a home run. With Josh, we were behind by a run there and if [Clayton Mortensen] doesn't have what he gave us today, it would have been a catastrophe."
Unlike in other outings, the offense dug him out. Trailing 6-3 in the fifth, Adrian Gonzalez collected the second of his career-high three doubles, which resulted in an RBI and kept the frame alive for one more run to score.
Just minutes later, all the optimism went out the window. With David Murphy on base in the sixth, Soto smacked a two-run home run to center field –– a sequence that properly ended Beckett's night.
"I've just got to get back to work and get my fingers on top of the ball, and get the balls where they can't hit them that hard," Beckett said. "It's tough. It'd be a lot better if we were winning two out of every three games."
For the second straight start, fans showered Beckett with boos as he ambled off into the dugout. Last time around –– against the Tigers –– the hurler received the derision despite exiting with back spasms.
Either way, Beckett is trying to shake it off.
"I can't control that," Beckett said.
Said Dustin Pedroia of the boos: "I didn't even listen to that. We're all in this together. We support Josh. He's our teammate, we're going to do all we can to get his back and every time he takes the mound. … There's going to be times where I have tough times and they might boo me. We just have to go out there and play as hard as we can and do it together.''
But the boos are becoming a pattern for Beckett, just another obstacle he'll attempt to overcome.
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