Their schizophrenic nature has manifested itself in every facet of the game, from up-and-down pitching to hot-and-cold hitting.
Yet even in the face of all that, the stark contrast from the beginning of Josh Beckett’s start on Friday night against the Yankees to the end was downright alarming, so much so that many on hand, including Beckett himself, could not recall the star right-hander having such an uneven performance.
Beckett’s final line was awful. There is no mistaking that. He gave up nine runs on nine hits and walked three in 5 1/3 innings of a 10-3 loss to the Yankees. But those numbers on their own do nothing to illustrate how phenomenal Beckett’s first few innings were, nor how truly bad it got in his last.
"I thought tonight was the best stuff he had in any of his starts this year," said Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. "But I don’t think any one of us foresaw the sixth inning unfolding like it did."
Through the first three innings, Beckett struck out six and allowed just one weak single to backup catcher Francisco Cervelli. His velocity was good and the action on his curveball excellent. However, a three-run homer by Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher in the fourth started the scoring and perhaps rattled Beckett enough so that his demise would not be too far off.
The sixth inning began innocently enough with an Alex Rodriguez double. Beckett then bore a cutter in on Robinson Cano that nailed the second baseman in his left knee, forcing him from the game. After a wild pitch, a strikeout and an intentional walk to load the bases and face Cervelli, Beckett’s night fell apart.
"As good as he was commanding, all of a sudden it was gone," said manager Terry Francona.
Beckett walked Cervelli to force in a run, and then nailed Derek Jeter with another pitch, forcing in another and drawing the ire of some Yankees on the top step of their dugout. Given the situation, it is hard to imagine Beckett having any intent to hit Jeter, but New York had just added Cano to a growing injury list and was clearly not pleased with Beckett’s wild ways.
Some of the Yankees were actually shocked by it all.
"I don't know if I’ve ever seen that from him," said New York manager Joe Girardi. "It’s a guy that’s pitched at a high level for a long time. He just seemed to lose command."
Beckett, whose wild pitch in the sixth came when he crossed up catcher Jason Varitek and hit the backstop in the forearm, then gave up back-to-back RBI singles before he was mercifully pulled. When asked what had happened to the early dominance, Beckett had his own explanation.
"I just had no idea where the ball was going," he said. "I was trying to throw the ball too hard."
What makes the collapse even more troubling is that Beckett had seemingly turned a corner in his last start after two straight stinkers. But he has now given up at least seven runs in three of his last four starts and eight times overall since the start of 2009.
"It’s very disappointing," said Beckett, whose ERA after seven starts is 7.46. "Guys are out there playing their [behinds] off and I’d like to be part of wins rather than losses. Unfortunately, I’ve had my fair share of those."
