Josh Beckett turned things around Sunday night as he was nearly unhittable. He kept the Yankees off-balance all night, holding them to two hits and one walk during his eight innings of work, striking out ten along the way. The big difference between this and his first start, in which he allowed five hits and four walks in five innings, was the location of his fastball:

Josh Beckett fastball location 4/5/2011. Heat map: Baseball Analytics

Beckett was missing high, and batters could wait for him to bring the pitch into the strike zone. They were 5 for 10 when he did. Sunday night, he didn’t miss much:

Josh Beckett fastball location 4/5/2011. Heat map: Baseball Analytics

This time, batters managed just a 1 for 10 against his fastball. Note, too, that Beckett threw the ball harder, averaging 93.5 MPH vs. 92.1 MPH in game one. That also may be an effect of location. He may have let up on the fastball to get it in the strike zone, which makes it easier to hit.

Thanks to Baseball Analytics for the heat maps.