Josh Beckett Defensive After Victory In Philadelphia
BOSTON (CBS) – The evening of May 10 may go down as the lowest point of Josh Beckett's career, after the Red Sox' righty was booed mercilessly on his walk off the mound at Fenway Park. So you can forgive him if, after two solid starts following that outing, he's still feeling a little sensitive.
Beckett allowed just one earned run over 7 2/3 innings on Sunday in Philadelphia, an impressive showing that followed seven shutout innings his last time out against Seattle.
After Sunday's win, Beckett talked about commanding his pitches and keeping the ball down, but when he was asked about his velocity, Beckett took a bit of an issue with the question.
"Every time ... we have to answer that question every time?" he said. "I don't know. I feel like I'm 32 years old."
Beckett also took a bit of an issue with the perception that he's having a terrible season.
"I felt like I've had some other good starts this year," Beckett said Sunday, according to The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham. "You guys don't see that, but I feel like I have."
He's got a point. Despite two notable stinkers (May 10 against Cleveland and April 7 in Detroit), he's averaging more than six innings per outing, and if you exclude those two bad starts, he'd have a 2.13 ERA.
Of course, you can't just remove games from a pitcher's record, so that ERA actually sits at 4.38. But Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who's been behind the plate for both of the past two starts, shared a similar sentiment as Beckett.
"You know what? JB's a great pitcher," Saltalamacchia said. "You can't say he's been effective his last two times. You look at his career numbers, and you can't say the last time out or two, so ... He's a great pitcher."
Still, it seems that no matter how well he pitches, some leftover feelings from that fateful night at Fenway won't be fading any time soon.
