Red Sox Wins Over Angels 5-1

It's like a rite of passage for the Angels' top young relievers, a baptism by Fenway fire. It happened here to Troy Percival, to Brendan Donnelly, to Scot Shields, to Francisco Rodriguez, and it happened Tuesday night to Kevin Jepsen, whose rare meltdown during a four-run eighth inning led to the Angels' 5-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

Kevin Jepsen had been the team's best reliever this season, with a 1.64 earned-run average in 14 games, but the right-hander walked as many batters in the eighth inning Tuesday night — three — as he had all baseball season. That set the table for Jeremy Hermida's tiebreaking, opposite-field, three-run double, a fly ball that left fielder Juan Rivera appeared to have a chance of catching after a long run to the corner before pulling up in front of the wall.

Jeremy Hermida's hit laid to waste a superb start by Angels right-hander Ervin Santana, who gave up one run and seven hits in 7 innings, and sent the Angels to their fifth straight loss and their first 0-5 start to a trip since 2003.

"Right now," Manager Mike Scioscia said, "it stings."

The Angels were stymied by Boston left-hander Jon Lester, who gave up one run and five hits in eight innings, but with the score tied, 1-1, they loaded the bases in the eighth when Howie Kendrick and Mike Napoli singled, Brandon Wood bunted the runners up, and Erick Aybar walked.

But Jon Lester, with his 120th pitch, got Bobby Abreu to ground to second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who tagged Aybar and, as he fell to the ground, shoveled a 20-foot toss to first for an inning-ending double play. walked Kevin JepsenVictor Martinez and Kevin Youkilis to open the bottom of the eighth, and J.D. Drew singled to left to load the bases.

It appeared Kevin Jepsen might escape the jam when David Ortiz, with the infield in, grounded sharply to Howie Kendrick. The second baseman threw home for the force, and Mike Napoli fired to first for a rare 4-2-3 double play.

But Adrian Beltre walked on four pitches to load the bases, and Hermida, who bats left-handed, lofted a fly ball to left. Juan Rivera, who was shaded toward the gap, about 95 feet off the line, had a bead on the ball but turned his back at the last second to play it off the wall. The ball bounced a foot in front of the wall, scoring three runs for a 4-1 lead. Mike Lowell's RBI double off Scot Shields made it 5-1.

"I ran hard, I thought the ball was going to hit the wall, I got real close, but I was too far toward the gap." Juan Rivera said.

The seats down the line in Fenway Park block the view of the corner from the third base dugout, and neither Scioscia nor bench coach Ron Roenicke, who positions the outfielders, saw a replay.

"It's hard because the wall is so high, if the ball is going to hit off the wall you want to stay off of it," Ron Roenicke said. And because the wall is only 310 feet from home, "you don't know how much to pinch in that corner."

Any time there's a fly ball to left, "You kind of hold your breath,I had trouble finding the strike zone with all three pitches, and that limited me to the fastball, I tried to battle, but you put yourself in a bad position when you walk the first batter. That gives them the upper hand." Kevin Jepsen said, which is exactly what the Angels probably did while Jepsen was pitching. Of his 32 pitches, 13 were strikes. His ERA ballooned to 4.63.

Red Sox Superstar Josh Beckett's $68 M Deal

Red Sox Superstar Josh Beckett could have easily waited until after the season, become a free agent and perhaps scored more years and more dollars than the four-year, $68 million extension he formally signed with the Red Sox on last Moday April 5, 2010.

Josh Beckett and other Red Sox starting pitchers John Lackey and Jon Lester who signed through 2014. However, the fourth Red Sox pitcher Clay Bucholz who is not eligible for free agency until after the 2014 baseball season. Josh Beckett is a sensible and loyal man who just wants to be treated fairly. And that's why he, without hesitation, gave up free agency to re-sign with the Red Sox for a second time. Back in August, 2006, Beckett signed a three-year, $30 million deal plus a fourth-year option for $12 million.

"This is a very special place and I think that everyone who has had a chance to play here knows that, the people who haven't had a chance probably know that through other people that have. I think this organization, they just do everything they can to make our jobs as easy as possible and from people I've talked to, there's not a whole lot of organizations out there that really do that. Whether it be in between starts or roundtable meetings, there's just a lot of things that go on here that make it a very ideal situation for a baseball player." Said the Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett.

Josh Beckett's contract was finalized the day after he struggled against the Yankees on Opening Night, giving up 8 hits and five runs over 4 2/3 innings. The Red Sox went on to win the game, 9-7. He will take the ball next on Sunday in Kansas City. 

 

Josh Beckett who will turn 30 on May 15, is 65-34 with a 4.07 ERA in 123 starts for the Red Sox. He is 106-68 with a 3.81 ERA in his career, which began with the Florida Marlins in 2001. He had an October for the ages in 2007, going 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA to lift the Red Sox to a World Series championship. Beckett was similarly heroic in leading the Marlins to a World Series title in '03, firing a shutout against the Yankees on three days' rest in the Series-clinching Game 6. 

 

Josh Beckett was acquired by the Red Sox in November 2005 in a blockbuster trade that also brought Mike Lowell to Boston. Hanley Ramirez, now one of the best all-around players in the game, went to Florida in that deal. 

 

"I think that's what we're all striving for every year, It's a very difficult thing to attain. I would say that with this organization, I think we have a chance to win a ring every year. I've only been on one team here [2006] that didn't make the playoffs. I haven't been on one team here where I didn't think we could win the World Series at the beginning of the season. That's pretty remarkable to think ... this is my fifth season here now, and at the beginning of each year, I really had a strong feeling that we could win the World Series.” Josh Beckett added now with 2 World Series rings already tucked away, Beckett would love to add some more to his collection.