Another Red Sox pitcher had a start cut short on Friday night because of injury, and this time, it was right-hander Josh Beckett.
Beckett left after completing five innings with what the team is calling a mildly hyperextended left knee. According to the Red Sox, Beckett was pulled for precautionary reasons.
With rain falling at Fenway Park off and on through the night, Beckett appeared to have done something during the fifth inning. After completing a pitch, Beckett looked down at the mound. The training staff came out to look at Beckett. The grounds crew also came out to do work on the mound.
"He slipped on the mound, he hyperextended his knee," manager Terry Francona confirmed after Boston's 10-3 win. "His stability is fine. So hopefully we dodged a little bit of a bullet.
"It was precautionary reasons. He could have pitched, but we didn't think that was a good thing to do."
Beckett added that he was concerned at first, but said he is fine.
"It's a little tender, but it's not too bad," he said after the game. "It scared me more than anything."
Beckett's 2010 season was greatly affected by a weather-related injury, when he injured his back during a start in May after slipping on a wet mound at Yankee Stadium. The righty missed two months with that injury.
