Becket Back on Track as Sox Topple Atlanta 4-0

ATLANTA--It was one of those just-between-slugger moments: David Ortiz huddling with Barry Bonds when the Giants visited Fenway Park last weekend.

"One of the things he told me," Ortiz said, "is that once you hit 50 home runs, forget about it. You're not going to see any pitches the next year."

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 club record with 54, two more than Double-X.

Last night, when he connected off Braves starter Tim Hudson with an opposite-field home run in the fourth inning, which gave Josh Beckett (10-1) a lead he would not relinquish in a 4-0 win over the Braves, it was Ortiz's 12th 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, April 8 in Texas.

"That's just the way it is going to be," Ortiz said. "The same thing happened with Barry. Barry doesn't miss pitches."

Box score

Ortiz, restored to the starting lineup after pinch hitting in Monday's 9-4 loss, has pretty much resigned himself to this new world order, though he still harbors hopes that when Manny Ramírez goes on a power tear, and the weather warms up, his selection of pitches to pound into oblivion will improve.

"I don't get to go deep much," he cracked after the game, before hustling to catch a bus that he claimed was about to leave him behind.

His was the only ball to leave the premises, on a night that Beckett became the American League's second 10-game winner by limiting the Braves to a double and three singles before the rains came, a 48-minute delay ending his outing after six innings. He did not leave before another how-can-I-top-myself-this-time catch by center fielder Coco Crisp, who took extra bases away from Hudson by going airborne after a long sprint in the fifth.

"Oh man," Beckett said. "I've told him this before, that that was the greatest catch I've ever had behind me. I told him that tonight. I think that's about three or four times I've told him that. I guess I've got to go back and look at all of 'em and figure out which one is the greatest catch.

"I try to explain it to some of the other guys. It's so much different, seeing that from my angle and with my adrenaline. Because I'm extremely into that play. Whenever you see somebody go after a ball like that, he's playing in the other gap -- right away you think there's no way, then he starts closing the distance and leaves his feet, it's an unbelievable catch.

The Sox picked up a game on the Yankees, 3-1 losers in Colorado, to widen their lead to nine games in the American League East. They also pinned another defeat on Hudson, maybe the best pitcher who can't figure out how to beat the Sox. Hudson, who used to pitch in Oakland, did better last night than 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.

Alex Cora, playing shortstop 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 into the gap in left-center. A single by Dustin Pedroia brought home Beckett to make it 3-0.

In the sixth, Jason Varitek doubled and Crisp singled him to third, knocking out Hudson. Cora's sacrifice fly made it 4-0.

Hudson has lost his last six starts to the Sox, his 0-6 record complemented 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.

"It's obviously a matchup where their hitters have done pretty well against me," Hudson said. "But check their record. They're not bad. That's a pretty good team."

NL Boxscore Boston vs. Atlanta


Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston « 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 4 10 0
Atlanta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
Preview | Matchup | Lineup | Log | Wrap | Box
W:J.Beckett(10-1) L:T.Hudson(6-5)
HR: BOS- D.Ortiz (12) ATL- None



Boston AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR W K AVG
JD Drew RF 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .236
Dustin Pedroia 2B 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .320
David Ortiz 1B 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 .332
Eric Hinske PR-1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .175
Manny Ramirez LF 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .293
Kevin Youkilis 3B 4 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333
Jason Varitek C 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 .266
Coco Crisp CF 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .247
Alex Cora SS 2 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 .281
Josh Beckett P 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .143
Kyle Snyder P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Hideki Okajima P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Wily Mo Pena PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .217
Jonathan Papelbon P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 33 4 10 4 3 1 1 2 3

Atlanta AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR W K AVG
Kelly Johnson 2B 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .285
Willie Harris LF 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 .385
Matt Diaz PH-LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .345
Edgar Renteria SS 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333
Yunel Escobar SS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .302
Chipper Jones 3B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .321
Brian McCann C 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .262
Andruw Jones CF 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .202
Jeff Francoeur RF 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .275
Scott Thorman 1B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .239
Tim Hudson P 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
Oscar Villarreal P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Pete Orr PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .196
Chad Paronto P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Macay McBride P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 31 0 5 0 1 0 0 3 4


E_E.Renteria. LOB_Boston 6, Atlanta 7. 2B_K.Youkilis, J.Varitek, J.Beckett, W.Harris. 3B_A.Cora. HR_D.Ortiz (12) off T.Hudson. SF_A.Cora. CS_J.Drew. GIDP_J.Drew, J.Varitek, C.Crisp, Y.Escobar. DP_Boston 1(K.Youkilis-D.Pedroia-E.Hinske) Atlanta 3(K.Johnson-Y.Escobar-S.Thorman 2), (E.Renteria-S.Thorman)

Boston IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
Josh Beckett (W 10-1) 6.0 4 0 0 2 3 0 88-52 3.14
Kyle Snyder 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 18-13 2.96
Hideki Okajima 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 14-6 1.01
Jonathan Papelbon 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10-6 1.78

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
Tim Hudson (L 6-5) 5.1 9 4 4 1 1 1 93-59 3.43
Oscar Villarreal 1.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 24-13 3.89
Chad Paronto 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 12-9 5.26
Macay McBride 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 8-5 3.60


IBB_off T.Hudson (J.Varitek).
HBP_by M.McBride (A.Cora).
T_2:57. A_47910.
Umpires_Home,Randy Marsh; First, Bob Davidson; Second, Sam Holbrook; Third, Hunter Wendelstedt.