From There to Here

Just wow.

Hours after watching Jost Beckett pitch a complete game shutout against the Angels en route to the Sox taking Game 1 of the ALDS 4-0, I still can’t believe how incredible it was. It reminded me of when Pedro Martinez led off the game by hitting Tampa Bay hothead Gerald Williams, got in a fight, then sat down the next 24 Devil Rays in order before giving up a hit to lead off the ninth. Beckett didn’t get hit last night, but he did sit down 19 Angels in a row after giving up a leadoff single to Figgins.

I think last night was the most dominant game I have seen since then. It wasn’t as dominant as a few Pedro games (this one and this one both come to mind) I’ve watched, but it is probably the most dominant postseason pitching I’ve ever seen by a Sox player (with apologies to Keith Foulke in the 2004 postseason).

The only postseason comparison, I think, to the game Beckett had, was Pedro on Oct. 19, 1999, winning the only game we did against the Yankees in that ALCS. Pedro went 7, gave up 2 hits, no runs, 2 walks, and struck out 12 while giving up no runs. Beckett last night pitched a complete game shutout, giving up four hits and striking out 8. Both were incredible performances, but watching Beckett’s plate control (he went 0-1 on a vast majority of hitters) was amazing and it was a huge win that really goes a long way in a five-game series.

But that wasn’t the goal. We still need ten more W’s. Dice-K gets to it tomorrow, and tries to wow all of us again.

(P.S. - This game was awesome too, but Pedro didn’t start. Still, I think this will be one of the performances that long lives in Red Sox lore. Six innings of no-hit pitching in relief in a Game 5 of an ALDS after the Indians had put across eight runs in three innings. Yeah, tha’s good.)