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SWEPT AWAY BY A "RALLY MONKEY" ...
Josh Beckett flirts with a no-hitter
June 3, 2009 ...
The baseball landed on the grass in short right field, ending Josh
Beckett's no-hit bid at 6 2/3 innings. Beckett was untouchable until
Curtis Granderson ended all the fun, turning a night for the ages
into simply a 10-5 win over the Tigers. Beckett's brilliant
performance came in front of a crowd of 29,240 that was driven out of
Comerica Park the moment David Ortiz pulled into second base with a
two-run double in the eighth.
Boston
scored six runs in the eighth to put away the Tigers. The Tigers, though, got a
bit of revenge in the eighth when the Sox made errors at second, shortstop, and
third, and Kevin Youkilis left the game after being kicked on the right ankle by
Josh Anderson.
Beckett was
aiming for the fifth Sox no-hitter since 2001. As the Tigers stepped to the
plate in the seventh inning, it appeared this would be their best chance, with
their Nos. 2, 3, and 4 hitters coming up. But Placido Polanco flied to left,
Magglio Ordonez walked, and Miguel Cabrera - who had entered the game tied with
Youkilis for third in the majors in hitting at .358, got himself down 0-2,
before flying out to Jacoby Ellsbury in the right-center gap.
It was
Granderson's turn, and he made the most of it. The center fielder lined a solid
single into right field, the no-hitter going by the boards on a 2-and-1 pitch,
what Beckett described as a 94-mile-per-hour sinker. That hardly diminished the
incredible stuff the Sox ace was slinging, including an unfair curveball.
The closest
Beckett came to allowing a hit in the first six innings was on a bunt attempt by
catcher Gerald Laird in the sixth. The ball rolled foul just short of the third
base bag, with Lowell scooping it up, and Beckett's no-hit bid safe. Beckett
then got Laird looking at a nasty curveball for strike three. The chance for a
perfect game was gone early, as Polanco walked with one out in the first. After
Polanco, no Tiger reached until Ordonez's walk on a full count in the seventh.
He got
plenty of run support as the Sox scored two runs in the first when Dustin
Pedroia led off with a single, and J.D. Drew followed with his 200th career
homer. Two more Boston runs came home in the fifth as Nick Green drove in
Ellsbury from first with a double. Green later scored on a funky play on which
Tigers righthander Armando Galarraga was charged with interference when Green
attempted to score on an overthrow. The Sox broke it open in the eighth, scoring
six runs, including two on a bases-loaded double by Ortiz. Those runs became
necessary when the Sox allowed the five unearned runs in the bottom of the
inning. Takashi Saito struggled in the ninth, loading the bases, but did not
allow a run.
Beckett went
7 2/3 innings and allowed three runs, all unearned, while walking two and
striking out nine. Beckett has allowed just three earned runs in his last four
starts. |
