Beckett Strong, Peña Warm To The Touch

This is the kind of stuff we were hoping for, Josh Beckett stepping out onto the mound and dominating for seven strong innings, with an offense that picks its spots and punishes mistakes. Now if only we could manage something like this against an opponent that isn't the Orioles...

Beckett made the O's look foolish today, returning to the form in which he opened the season. All was not well, however, as the medical staff made a visit to the mound during the sixth inning. Though Beckett pitched through the seventh, allowing one run (a Tejada solo jack) on two hits, something raised an alarm in the dugout. The immediate thought is to Beckett's fingers, as he has a well-publicized blister history on his pitching hand. According to the postgame interview, the mound visit was just to check to see if he tweaked his back slipping on the mound.

Offensively, we saw Mike Lowell maintain his offensive momentum with a homer and a triple (the fourth of his career). Wily Mo Peña, who will henceforth be referred to (lovingly) as The Human Strikeout [THS], also had four RBI and continues to display the results of his work with Papa Jack and David Ortiz. If Peña can develop into a solid hitter with average patience, he will make the trade for Arroyo worthwhile. THS could certainly become a hitter of Ortiz's caliber with hard work and dedication, but it is unlikely that he will ever be capable of replacing a hitter of Ramirez's intelligence should Manny leave the team (for retirement or trade).

All in all, a good evening for Red Sox baseball.

Oh yea, and what's going on with Albert Pujols? God, I love that guy.