One Down, Ten to Go

Wow.

What a way to start the playoffs. In four career postseason starts, Josh Beckett now has three complete game shutouts, and he managed this one with eight strikeouts, no walks, and only four hits (none of them for extra bases). After giving up a lead-off single, he proceeded to retire the next 19 batters. He was consistently throwing two-seam and four-seam fastballs at 96-98 mph, and throwing his curve ball for strikes.

And he had great defense behind him. Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury both made outstanding catches in the outfield, and Lowell made a great diving stop in the third that we had to see in replay because TBS was still showing commercials when the inning started.

And on the other side, John Lackey didn’t miss a lot of bats. Kevin Youkilis (now tied with Manny Ramirez for Sammy’s favorite player) got his first postseason hit in the first inning, a home run that turned out to be the only run the Sox would need. Big Papi continued to demonstrate that he’s back in fine form, hitting a two-run shot in the third. And two batters later, Mike Lowell drove in another run to top it off.

Not bad, eh? I like it.