Josh Beckett picked apart the Royals Sunday afternoon:
Beckett (11-3) retired the first nine batters, five on strikeouts, and picked up his 100th career victory. It was his second shutout and complete game of the season following his 3-0 win over Atlanta on June 20.
He finished with seven strikeouts and no walks and threw just 94 pitches. It was a fitting end to a stretch in which he went 9-1 with a 2.14 ERA after struggling at 2-2 with a 7.22 ERA through April.
Beckett joins Tim Wakefield at 11-3, making the two 22-6 on the season, 16 games over .500. If the two can repeat that in the second half, the rest of the staff can turn in a .500 season and the Red Sox will cruise to the division title. The Red Sox are 36-20 against the Royals this decade.
Gee, I don’t think its too realistic that Beckett and Wakefield will both go 22-6.
That said, it seems that we have the potential for quite a few 20 game winners in the majors this season.
Wake has gotten some great run support, and bullpen work. I think Lester, Penny et al can go at least .500 🙂