Beckett, Red Sox Dominate Astros In Final Spring Training Game
HOUSTON (AP) -- Josh Beckett threw four hitless innings and the Boston Red Sox blasted Houston starter Nelson Figueroa for an 10-0 victory against the Astros on Wednesday night.
Beckett, trying to rebound from a 6-6 season, hit Angel Sanchez, the second batter of the game, with a pitch and then retired the next 11 in a row until Brett Wallace led off the fifth with a single past second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
"I had a good changeup and got some good fastballs when I needed to," Beckett said. "I've come a long way and I felt really good. I felt good mechanically in my last start. I felt as good in the last start as this one. I know the results didn't turn out the same but I was encouraged."
Beckett allowed one hit over five innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out three.
"You can talk all spring about numbers don't mean anything and they don't then he comes out tonight and his fastball's got that kind of life, that's fun to watch," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "He really looked sharp tonight."
Curiosity: Have Red Sox Fans Become Complacent?
Dan Butler, a prospect headed for the minors, hit a two-run homer off reliever Gustavo Chacin in the ninth to complete Boston's 12-hit attack.
"When you see Butler come in the dugout, you've got major league veterans mobbing him," Francona said. "Everybody knew his family was here. That was really fun. For me, that was the topper of the night."
Figueroa, the Astros fifth starter, was rocked for five runs in the first inning and three more in the fourth. He gave up nine hits, eight earned runs, four walks and had two strikeouts overall.
"Physically, I'm fine. Mentally, I'm beating myself up," Figueroa said. "I'm doing more damage than they did. If they were hitting doubles in the gaps or home runs ... but it was that I would get ahead of some hitters and then walk them. There were too many walks. I'm not a pitcher that can get away with too many walks. I made too many mistakes up in the zone."
Beckett liked the way his spring ended.
"It's nice to have confidence going into your next start," he said. "Definitely the mechanical things that we worked on at the beginning of spring are beginning to come together."
Figueroa is hoping his next start is an improvement.
"As of right now, the negatives far outweigh the positives," Figueroa said. "There were some good things that happened.
The second and third innings were more what I was capable of doing and more what I bring to the table, more what I plan on featuring going into my start."
NOTES: Astros starter J.A. Happ left Tuesday night's game against Triple-A Oklahoma City with a right oblique strain. "He's feeling much better today," manager Brad Mills said. Boston left fielder Carl Crawford and Astros center fielder Michael Bourn played on the same East Houston Little League team. Beckett grew up in nearby Spring. The Astros reassigned infielder Tommy Manzella to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
