josh beckett

CLEVELAND - Fans at Jacobs Field were primed for a celebration to rock and roll all night, but unfortunately the Red Sox, led by Josh Beckett and Manny Ramirez, unplugged the amps and kicked over the mic stand, beating the Indians 7-1 in Game 5 and sending the towel-waving faithful into the cool Ohio night with reason to fear the weekend.

Red Sox Nation, trailing 3-2 in games, is gearing up for tomorrow's Game 6 at Fenway Park, needing two wins to advance.

The swagger is back.

"Getting ahead was a huge factor for us," first baseman Kevin Youkilis said of his first-inning home run. "Knowing Josh Beckett was on the mound, we knew that might be the only run we needed in the game. It's great to have him go out there and pitch the way he does because it eases us as hitters."

The game had a chance to become ugly in the fifth as Beckett and Indians left fielder Kenny Lofton precipitated a bench-clearing incident after Lofton flied out to left field. At the moment Lofton lofted his fly ball, Beckett let out a primal scream. The intense veteran screamed back at Beckett all the way to first, then headed across to the mound for further pleasantries. No punches were thrown. Nobody was ejected. No harm, no foul.

Beckett was dialled in and focused all night. The only blip came when he allowed a weak grounder to go between his legs in Lofton's next at-bat in the seventh, which came just after his former girlfriend, country star Danielle Peck, sang "God Bless America." He threw eight innings, allowing a first-inning run, with 11 strikeouts.

"It says a lot about him," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of Beckett. "After the first inning he really became the dominant pitcher that we rely on so much."

The winning Sox feel is starting to return. The New England nine have been down this road before, three years ago vs. the Yankees, coming back in the ALCS from a three-games-to-none deficit, then sweeping the Cardinals in the World Series. The Sox played noticeably looser than the Tribe last night. The Indians need someone to step up, especially the struggling DH Travis Hafner.

"We need him to get it going," manager Eric Wedge said. "He just needs to go up there and hit. Right now, he's just getting in his own way a little bit.

"My disappointment lies with the lack of adjustment in our hitters. You have to take some risks. You have to take some chances and we didn't. I didn't feel like we played very well."

Loose cannon Ramirez said on the workout day, to the dismay of many Sox fans, "It's not the end of the world," referring to a Red Sox loss. And he is playing like he believes it. As usual, Ramirez mixed moments of sublime baseball ability with moments of ridiculous baseball decisions. Manny was Manny and that is often good enough.

In the third inning, Manny accomplished both sublime and ridiculous on the same play. With David Ortiz on first, Ramirez drove a pitch to the deepest part of right-centre. It hit the yellow line on top of the fence and bounced back into play. It was his second hit of the game. Ortiz cruised home all the way from first for a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, Manny was still standing on first, arguing for a home run. But hey, man, it's not the end of the world.

"I think there's a point as a manager where you don't care if it's right, you want the run," Francona said of his heated argument with the umpires that occurred after Ramirez's disputed hit.

Beckett did the rest, pitching eight innings for his second win of the series. Now, as Manny pointed out, there clearly is a tomorrow for the Red Sox. Ramirez has to play a big part of it if the Sox are to repeat history and go to the World Series. So must starters Curt Schilling and Daisuke Matsuzaka.
By John Lott

CLEVELAND ? Josh Beckett threw a nasty breaking ball or two in his post-game media session.

After he pitched Boston to a 7-1 win, someone asked whether he was distracted by the fact that Danielle Peck, a country singer he once dated, was hired to sing the national anthem before the game.

"I don't get paid to make those f------- decisions," Beckett said. "She's a friend of mine. That doesn't bother me at all. Thanks for flying one of my friends to the game so she could watch it for free."

Beckett engaged in a shouting match with Kenny Lofton after Lofton hit a fly ball in the fifth inning. He was asked whether he was angry because Lofton had dropped his bat as if taking a walk on a 3-0 pitch.

"Yeah, it was a lot of stuff," Beckett said. "It kind of goes back before today. Those things have a way of working themselves out, though."

Asked if it was tougher to pitch in a do-or-die game on the road than at home, Beckett replied:

"It's just basically comes down to the same thing, no matter what you're playing. If you're playing in the backyard with your buddies, it comes to executing pitches."

And finally: "We're excited to get back to Boston. It's going to be a great flight. Better than if we would have went down losing. This is not where we want to be, but obviously we're inching closer to where we want to be. Kind of the motto in the clubhouse right now is, 'It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees.' "

I know, I know. It makes no sense. As an orator, Josh Beckett makes a terrific pitcher.
CLEVELAND -- Tempers flared on Thursday night, leading to a brief but heated shouting match between the Red Sox and Indians at Jacobs Field. The main players in the minor fracas were Boston's Josh Beckett and Cleveland's Kenny Lofton, who have a history of angry exchanges.
The incident took place during the fifth inning of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, when Beckett and Lofton squared off in the frame's first at-bat. Beckett started the meeting with three straight balls and then fired a pitch that flirted with the lower edge of the strike zone.

Lofton thought he had just watched ball four, and he quickly dropped his bat to the ground before turning to head to first base. Cleveland's left fielder retrieved his lumber when home-plate umpire Gary Cederstrom ruled the offering a strike, but Beckett was already beginning to fume.

"Kenny's done that for a long time," Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said about Lofton's bat toss, following Boston's 7-1 victory. "It's part of what he does and not everybody's going to agree with it."

Lofton swung at the ensuing pitch and promptly flew out innocently to left field. As soon as he connected with Beckett's 3-1 offering, Boston's starter began barking at Lofton as he made his way up the first-base line. Lofton continued to run to first, waited for the ball to be caught and then headed toward the mound while yelling back at Beckett.

"It goes back to 2005," said Lofton, who had a similar episode when he was with the Phillies and Beckett pitched for the Marlins. "He's the only one [who has a problem with how I drop the bat]. That's the way he is. He's that kind of guy. He was saying some stuff to me and I didn't like it. I let him know."

Afterward, Beckett kept his response brief when asked about the heated exchange.

"Yeah, it was a lot of stuff," Beckett said. "It kind of goes back before today. Those things have a way of working themselves out, though."

As Lofton headed toward Beckett, both benches and bullpens emptied and players spilled onto the field. Varitek said he wasn't sure what initiated the incident, which concluded nearly as quickly as it began.

"I have no earthly idea. I'm watching the fly ball," Varitek said. "I don't know, to be honest with you. [Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis] was there, and I turned to make sure nothing escalated coming from the dugout."

Boston third baseman Mike Lowell also headed toward the mound in an effort to make sure Beckett and Lofton didn't come to blows.

"I heard Kenny say, 'You said something to me first,'" Lowell said. "I just wanted to get in between, because Kenny's valuable to their team and Josh is valuable to our team. I don't think you want to see anyone miss time over that. They're both intense. Their emotions probably get the best of them."



Home | News | Multimedia | PhotosCederstrom intervened, as did personnel from both sides, and Lofton and Beckett were kept apart. Lofton was pushed away by Cleveland first-base coach Luis Rivera and escorted off the field by third-base coach Joel Skinner while Boston manager Terry Francona worked on calming down Beckett.

"I think there was just a little verbiage back and forth, and nothing happened," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "Both teams run out, look at each other, and both teams ran back."

That didn't mean that some of the players on Cleveland's side weren't upset with Beckett's verbal attack at Lofton. During Game 4 of the series, Boston's Manny Ramirez threw both arms up and watched a solo home run sail over the fence, irking some of the Indians.

"We didn't say anything about Manny's reaction to his homer," Indians catcher Victor Matinez said. "I don't know what [Beckett] had to say to Kenny. He always does that. If you don't like it, what can you do?"

At the time of the fracas, Indians first baseman Ryan Garko was inside the clubhouse watching footage of his last at-bat. He and teammate Chris Gomez caught wind of the confrontation and tried to hustle out to the field to get a closer look at what was going on.

"As a player, there's no dumber feeling than being the last guy to run out on the field," Garko said. "We come out there, and you try to act like you're mad, but you don't know what's happening. By the time you get there, the situation is already cooled down. It's a dumb feeling. You feel like, 'I should have just stayed down there watching film.'"

After the incident cooled down, Beckett went back to work, striking out Cleveland's Franklin Gutierrez for the second out. Casey Blake and Grady Sizemore followed with singles before Beckett struck out Asdrubal Cabrera to end the inning.

From there, Beckett cruised through eight strong innings, forcing the series to head back to Boston for Game 6 on Saturday. If the ALCS heads to a seventh contest, Beckett and Lofton may meet up once again if Beckett is used in relief of Daisuke Matsuzaka.