Beckett, Bay Lead BoSox Over A's

It was a night of reverse fortunes for the Boston Red Sox, as they were able to march past the Oakland A's. 

After suffering a two hit shutout courtesy of Brett Anderson and A's last night, the Sox rebounded thanks in large part to their ace, Josh Beckett.  Collecting his 10th win of the of the season and 99th of his career, Beckett worked 6 2/3 innings while only allowing two runs on six hits.  Beckett's 10th win tied fellow teammate and all-star Tim Wakefield for the team lead in wins, along with the American League lead.  It was also Beckett's 12th quality start, which leads the team.  "Josh, he's been our bulldog," said Red Sox captain Jason Varitek. "When he's healthy, he can really do a lot with the baseball."

Along with the team rebounding from a mini-slump, the Red Sox' Left Fielder Jason Bay was able to break out of a slump himself.  In the past ten games, Bay saw his average drop from .278 to .261, but he raised it a little bit tonight by going 2-3 with his 20th homer of the season and a double, along with scoring twice.  "I hope so," said Bay. "Today was probably the most comfortable I've felt in a while. The last two weeks, it's just one of those things where you're a little uncomfortable and you're not seeing the ball and you're swinging at pitches I normally don't, and today I kind of felt like I slowed down a little bit again."

Even though Oakland was the first team to strike the run column thanks in part to a solo shot by newly aquired Scott Hairston, the Sox were able to respond and give Beckett some support.  After Bay homered in the 2nd to tie things up one a pieced, Nick Green hit into a bases-loaded double play that would score David Ortiz, who reached on a double, to make it a 2-1 game.  In the next inning, Varitek singled up the middle to plate 2 more runs and give the Sox a 3 run lead, more than Beckett would need.  Even though Beckett did surrender one more run thanks to Adam Kennedy's RBI double, Dustin Pedroia, who missed yesterday's game to be with his pregnant wife, knocked in another run for the Sox with a two-out RBI single to make it a 5-2 game, which would eventually be the final score. 

Heading into tomorrow's contest, we will see All-star Tim Wakefield take the mound one more time before the All-Star break.  Wakefield, who has been Boston's most consistent starter so far this season, enters the game with a 10-3 record and a 4.30 ERA.  In his only start against Oakland this season, Wakefield threw a complete game for the win, a performance in which he carried a no-hitter into the 8th inning.  Opposing him will be the A's young righty Trevor Cahill.  In 17 games this season, Cahill is 5-7 with a 4.55 era, and will be facing Boston for the first this season and the first time in his young career.