Cabrera earned his 13th save of the season after 1 1/3 innings of work, though he nearly let it get away from him.
A Jason Botts flyout and Kevin Mench groundout brought Seth Bynum to the plate, who managed to bloop one into right field. The ball just bounced out of the glove of Bubba Bell, who made a nice diving attempt. After Bynum stole second, Cabrera struck out Chris Duncan swinging to end the game.
End 8th, PawSox 2-1: Another chance with runners in scoring position, but another chance wasted.
Pawtucket had men on first and second with one out, but could do nothing with it. Jorge Jimenez sent a grounder to the first baseman, who looked to get the force at second, but opted to flip it to the pitcher for the out at first base.
With men now on third and second, Gil Velazquez could do no more than ground out to the shortstop and end the inning.
The PawSox will leave it up to Fernando Cabrera, who has 12 saves on the year, to close out the ninth and win this pitcher's duel.
Mid 8th, PawSox 2-1: Syracuse looked as if it was about to tie the game. That is, until a baserunning gaffe by Chase Lambin ended the inning.
On a hit-and-run play, Lambin roped a line drive into right field, sending Boomer Whiting to third, who was on the bases due to an error on a routine grounder by Reyes.
As Lambin trotted back to first after rounding the bag, a heads up play by Reyes redeemed the error. He raced over and tagged Lambin before he could get back to first base for the third and final out. Lambin stood on the bag, taking off his gloves in disbelief, but it was a clear out.
End 7th, PawSox 2-1: If anyone was going to break the hitless spell today, it would be Ryan Kalish.
Unfortunately, no one else can.
Mr. Do It Himself led off with a double into the right-center gap. Argenis Reyes popped up to the catcher, and the antsy Kalish grabbed his third stolen base of the game, taking third with Bubba Bell at the plate.
Bell struck out and Aaron Bates skied a cutter into right field, which was easily caught. Through seven innings, the PawSox have six hits, while the Chiefs only have four.
Mid 7th, PawSox 2-1: Leonard Davis gave the Pawtucket faithful a scare, but Josh Reddick was there.
New pitcher Blake Maxwell took care of the first two Syracuse batters, but Davis sent a ball to deep left field. It looked as if it was hit well enough to clear the wall, but Reddick caught the walk at the warning track to keep the one-run lead.
Maxwell will likely leave the game with no runs or hits allowed and one stirkeout, much like Bowden.
End 6th, PawSox 2-1: The crowd is beginning to chant, "We want a hit!" And understandably so.
Pawtucket hasn't put one in play since Jorge Jimenez's single to lead off the second inning. Even still, the PawSox remain up, 2-1.
Michael Bowden pitched a scoreless sixth for Pawtucket, striking out one.
Jimenez did reach base on a walk with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but Gil Velazquez's deep fly ball was caught in right field.
2:57 p.m.: After a 15-minute wait outside the clubhouse, Josh Beckett once again refused comment, offering only through media relations personnel, "I'll see you after the All-Star Break."
Mid 5th, PawSox 2-1: Rich Hill, somehow, got out of a jam.
After two straight singles and a double steal, putting Chiefs on second and third with two outs, Hill walked Boomer Whiting to load the bases. But he got Pete Orr to ground out to second to end the threat and keep the slim lead.
2:35 p.m.: Coaching visit to the mound already. Hill cruised through the first two batters, but has given up back-to-back singles with two outs. He just needs a little pep talk.
End 4th, PawSox 2-1: Syracuse pitcher Jeff Mandel has settled down since his tough first-inning, giving up just a walk to Kalish in between retiring three batters with ease.
Rich Hill, the former Chicago Cub, takes over for Beckett. He's only pitched 7 2/3 innings in four appearances for the PawSox this year, so we'll see if he can hold the lead and get Beckett his first win since April 10.
Mid 4th, PawSox 2-1: All seemed to be according to plan for Josh Beckett — until Jason Botts stepped to the plate.
Reading the cut fastball the entire way, the Chiefs DH belted the offering over the wall to cut the PawSox lead to 2-1.
That's likely it for Beckett, who responded by blowing another fastball by Kevin Mench for the final out. His final line for the day: four innings pitched, 68 pitches (42 strikes), one earned run, four strikeouts and no walks.
2:15 p.m.: And Beckett makes his first mistake.
Sticking mostly with the cut fastball, which has been hovering in the low-90s, he sent one that cut over the heart of the plate that Jason Botts crushed for a homer over the right-center wall.
End 3rd, PawSox 2-0: Back-to-back walks with two outs yielded nothing for the Sox after Josh Reddick flied out to center.
Lars Anderson drew a walk and swiped a bag of his own to land on second. Mark Wagner also worked the count for a free pass to first, but Reddick jumped on a 2-0 fastball and sent it into the heart of center field for the third out.
Now, back to the Josh Beckett Show.
Mid 3rd, PawSox 2-0: Nothing like a good old-fashioned battle to see if Beckett can still outduel a pesky batter.
Chiefs leadoff man Boomer Whiting lasted 11 pitches, fouling off five with two strikes, before flying out to center field. Beckett had only tossed three balls before the Whiting battle, earning two quick outs.
Beckett now has 49 pitches, 30 for strikes.
End 2nd, PawSox 2-0: Ryan Kalish is an absolute thief. 2-for-2 on stolen bases today.
No runs come of it, though. Chiefs flub a chance at a double play when second baseman Chase Lambin drops a Kalish line drive and is forced to only toss the ball to second base for the force. Another groundout ends the inning.
Mid 2nd, PawSox 2-0: Beckett is breaking out the whole arsenal now, sending his curve and cutter to go with his heater.
He caught the first guy looking, but kept one up and on the outside corner to give up a single to Kevin Mench. He blew a fastball by Seth Bynum for his second K before getting Chris Duncan to foul out on a 3-0 pitch.
It's a little early to call it, but Beckett looks to be back. He's thrown 35 pitches, 20 for strikes, in a pretty tight strike zone.
End 1st, PawSox 2-0: Like MLB team, like Triple-A affiliate. The PawSox have jumped out to a two-run lead thanks to four singles.
After Ryan Kalish singled and promptly stole second base, Bubba Bell put Pawtucket on the board with a single up the middle, just out of the reach of shortstop Seth Bynum to score his teammate.
With two outs, Lars Anderson singled to put Bell on third, and catcher Mark Wagner sent another single into the outfield, plating Bell.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Not the most efficient first inning of his life, but not too shabby, either. Josh Beckett retires the side in order.
He threw 15 pitches, eight of them strikes, and showed nice velocity, tossing over 90 miles per hour each time. He did struggle to keep the ball over the plate, as he seemed to try to paint the outside corner and just miss a few times. To be fair, he has a little rust to shake off.
1:09 p.m.: Lars Anderson helps out his pitcher by diving onto the tarp and into the wall to catch a foul ball. Early nominee for catch of the game.
1:04 p.m.: Beckett's first two pitches: 94 miles per hour, but bit outside. At least it's clear he has some velocity.
12:54 p.m.: We are 10 minutes away from the first pitch, and the crowd is definitely ready to see some Josh Beckett.
At least they get to see the newest PawSox ace in the top of the first. We'll see if Beckett can break Pawtucket (40-49) out of their funk and send them into the Break with a much-needed win over Syracuse (51-39).
12:25 p.m.: The crowd at McCoy Stadium gave Josh Beckett a loud ovation as he ran out onto the field for pre-game stretches.
The forecast for rain has been exchanged for a beautiful day, yet Pawtucket's stadium only stands at about half-full a half hour before the game. Don't they know they can see Josh Beckett pitch for a quarter of the price?
12:09 p.m.: The Pawtucket Red Sox are looking to head into the Triple-A All-Star Break with a win — what would be just their third in the last eight games — but the story today is the start of Josh Beckett.
The Boston Red Sox ace, who hasn’t pitched since May 18 due to a lower back strain, will get his first action from the mound in a real game since the injury in New York. He likely will be limited to 75 or 80 pitches, as the Red Sox want to see how the injury holds up in his first real test.
The other name to watch is center fielder Ryan Kalish, who is on a recent tear. He has seven multi-hit games in his last nine, putting up a .459 batting average with three doubles. He will be hitting leadoff in Sunday’s matchup against the Syracuse Chiefs.
The first pitch will be thrown at 1:05 p.m.
Here are the lineups for both teams:
Pawtucket
Ryan Kalish, CF
Argenis Reyes, 2B
Bubba Bell, RF
Aaron Bates, DH
Lars Anderson, 1B
Mark Wagner, C
Josh Reddick, LF
Jorge Jimenez, 3B
Gil Velazquez, SS
Syracuse
Boomer Whiting, CF
Pete Orr, 3B
Chase Lambin, 2B
Jason Botts, DH
Kevin Mench, RF
Seth Bynum, SS
Chris Duncan, 1B
Leonard Davis, LF
Carlos Maldonado, C
10 a.m.: Sunday's Pawtucket Red Sox game won't be your run-of-the-mill minor league baseball matchup. Instead, a two-time champion and World Series MVP will take the mound at McCoy Stadium today at 1:05 p.m.
After a 53-day hiatus from action, Josh Beckett hopes to prove that his sore back is ready to carry a heavy load for the Boston Red Sox down the stretch. Sunday, though, he will look to end a run of poor play by the Pawtucket Red Sox, who have lost five of seven and find themselves 12.5 games back of first place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the International League North. Their opponents, the Syracuse Chiefs of the Washington Nationals organization, stand just two games out of first, well ahead of the PawSox.