Every time John Lackey got roughed up: At least we have Beckett and Lester.
Every time Tim Wakefield was gone after five innings or so: At least we have Beckett and Lester.
Every time Erik Bedard was delayed in his return from knee and lat injuries: Relax, we have Beckett and Lester.
Yet, through it all, even those two had been dragged into the utter depths of ineffectiveness that has plagued the rotation for weeks. With the latest non-quality start by Beckett, which comes just two days after Lester was roughed up in New York, it's hard to find anyone to which you can turn.
Beckett gave up six runs in six innings of a 6-3 loss to Baltimore on Monday. It marks the second straight time he's been reached for six runs in losses to the last-place Orioles, against whom he has a 7.03 ERA this year.
Since Sept. 11, he and Lester, the two "aces" on which the club could pin now-dwindling postseason hopes, have made a combined six starts. They're 1-5 with an 8.18 ERA in that stretch.
"We gotta win games," Beckett said after his losing effort helped drop Boston into a wild-card tie. "We're not gonna do it whenever your starting pitcher gives up six runs when most of the guys got in at four in the morning."
Beckett looked OK early on, but just like his last start against the Orioles six days ago in Fenway Park, the middle and late innings were a mess. He threw 21 pitches in a scoreless but laborious fourth, 27 in a one-run fifth that tied the game 2-2 and then was reached for four in the sixth, one on a hanging changeup that Chris Davis hit for an RBI double and the last three on an inside-the-park home run by Robert Andino.
While that was a wild play that saw the ball go in and out of Jacoby Ellsbury's glove, Beckett pinned it all on himself.
"I guess it just comes down to making pitches. That's what it's been in my last two [starts]," he said. "I know in my last two outings, I haven't looked at any tape before that, but I know in my last two outings it just comes down to making those pitches when you need to. Left the changeup up there [to Davis], the Andino ball is right down the middle."
Although one was of the inside-the-park variety, Beckett has now given up multiple home runs in consecutive starts for the first time since Aug. 28 and Sept. 2, 2009. He's allowed at least seven hits in three straight starts for the first time all year. There were four walks Monday, one shy of a season high.
The effort, which actually looked a lot better than most of Boston's starts this month, lifted the rotation's ERA in September to 7.26. And yes, Beckett and Lester have had a lot to do with that.
