A POWERFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
Josh Beckett pitches a shutout
against the Braves

June 19, 2007 ... On this date a year ago, Ortiz had 20 home runs. He would have six more by the end of the month, en route to breaking Jimmie Foxx's Red Sox club record with 54, two more than Double-X. Tonight, when he connected off Braves starter Tim Hudson with an opposite-field home run in the fourth inning, which gave Josh Beckett a lead he would not relinquish in a 4-0 win over Atlanta, it was Ortiz's 12th home run of the season. He has hit home runs in back-to-back games just once this season, back in April against the Angels. He has had only one two-homer game, on April 8 in Texas.

Ortiz, restored to the starting lineup tonight after being limited to a pinch-hit appearance in Monday's loss, has pretty much resigned himself to this new world order, though he still harbors hopes that when Manny Ramirez goes on a power tear, and the weather warms up, his selection of pitches to pound into oblivion will improve.

His was the only ball to leave the premises on a night that saw the Sox pin another defeat on Hudson, who may be the best pitcher who can't figure out how to beat the Sox. Hudson pitched better than he has in most of his starts against the Sox, but was hurt by an RBI double by his opposite number, Beckett, which came in a two-run fifth inning.

Alex Cora, playing in place of the benched Julio Lugo, tripled to center when Andruw Jones was unable to make a shoestring catch, and scored when Beckett lined a double to left-center. A single by Dustin Pedroia brought home Beckett to make it 3-0. In the sixth, Jason Varitek doubled and Coco Crisp singled him to third, knocking out Hudson. Cora's sacrifice fly made it 4-0.

Hudson has lost his last six starts against the Sox, his 0-6 record not enhanced by a 9.00 ERA. They roughed him up worse in Boston May 20 (8 H, 6 R, 4 2/3 IP), and his overall record against the Sox is now 3-9, with a 6.26 ERA. Go figure. Against the rest of the world, Hudson is 122-56, a winning percentage of .685.

Beckett, meanwhile, was limited to six innings, but the constraints were placed on him not by Terry Francona but by the weather. Rain interrupted play for 48 minutes after the sixth inning. When the Braves batted in the seventh, Kyle Snyder was pitching for the Sox.

Beckett (10-1), rebounding from his first loss of the season last Thursday against the Rockies, gave up just four hits, walking two and striking out three, against a team he saw with regularity when he was in the National League East with the Florida Marlins. He became the American League's second 10-game winner, joining John Lackey of the Angels. Snyder worked a 1-2-3 seventh, dropping a beautiful breaking ball for a third strike on pinch hitter Pete Orr for the final out.

But when Kelly Johnson led off the eighth with a squibber into no-man's land near first base for an infield hit, Francona went to his bullpen again, for Hideki Okajima, fresh from a night off after three straight appearances. Okajima walked pinch hitter Matt Diaz on five pitches, then fell behind, 2-and-0, to Yunel Escobar, who had replaced Edgar Renteria after the rain delay (no word during the game from the Braves on the reason for the substitution). Okajima came back with two called strikes, then induced Escobar to ground sharply to Kevin Youkilis, playing third with Mike Lowell sitting on another no-DH night. Youkilis started a 5-4-3 double play, with Pedroia making a nice turn despite a hard takeout slide by Diaz.

Another ground ball to third, and Okajima was out of the inning, though perhaps in need of an explanation of what all the chanting was about, the "tomahawk chop" not exactly getting much play in Kyoto, Okajima's hometown. Jonathan Papelbon closed it with a perfect ninth.

A night after he had his first 4-for-4 game as a member of the Red Sox and his first two-homer game as a pro, Crisp made another signature catch in center field, one that may rival the chart-topper he made on David Wright of the Mets last summer in Fenway Park. In many ways it was similar, Crisp eating up acres of real estate racing from right-center before launching into an all-out dive to catch Tim Hudson's liner in the fifth inning last night.

With Julio Lugo unable to shake his slump - 0 for 11, 1 for 19, 5 for 47, 14 for 112 - Francona benched him again last night, playing Alex Cora at shortstop. Lugo also had had no success against Hudson - 0 for 10 lifetime - which factored into Francona's decision. "When you're facing a guy that's good and tough on you, let Cora play," Francona said. "I told him, `We're not giving up on you. Don't panic. Let Cora take your at-bats for you.' He's having a tough time." The decision paid off, except possibly for Lugo's ego. Cora tripled and scored in the fifth and hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth ... Padres pitcher Chris Young, suspended five games for his part in a brawl with Derrek Lee of the Cubs Saturday, is appealing his suspension, which means he is still on track to pitch against the Sox Friday night in San Diego. The Sox will face Young, 300-game winner Greg Maddux, and Jake Peavy, the National League's ERA leader, this weekend in Petco Park.

When Willie Harris was with the Red Sox, he made for a nice little historical footnote - he comes from Cairo, Ga., Jackie Robinson's hometown - but little more. He batted .156 in 34 games, and didn't fare so well as a pinch runner, getting caught three times in nine steal attempts, including a couple of pickoffs. But after signing a minor league deal with the Braves and getting promoted to the big leagues April 30 after hitting .362 in the minors, Harris has been playing like Robinson. Platooning with Matt Diaz, Harris came into last night's game batting .386 and doubled in his first at-bat against Beckett.

An MRI taken on Curt Schilling's right shoulder in Boston was normal today, the day after Schilling endured perhaps his worst start of the season against the Braves at Turner Field. Schilling did not have pain in his shoulder, according to a club source, supporting manager Terry Francona's contention that Schilling did not complain of pain after giving up six runs on 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings Monday night, looking so out of sorts that Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones wondered after the game whether the right-hander was hurt. Schilling, who returned to Boston today and was examined by team medical director Thomas Gill, was expected to undergo more tests today. Although the team source said shutting Schilling down is expected to be one option discussed, that may mean missing no more than one start.