Josh Beckett shines as Boston Red Sox beat Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 – MLB Update
Josh Beckett overcame his self-belief issues as Boston Red Sox flattened the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, July 15 in the finale of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Red Sox starting pitcher showed just what he is capable of as he single handedly led his side to a much need win. In his six effective innings, Beckett gave up three runs with seven strike-outs to grab his fifth win of the season.
Overall, Beckett has not been able to live up to his immense potential this season. His ERA of 4.44 in 2012 is considerably higher than his career ERA of 3.87. It will be interesting to see if he can take some confidence from his win on Sunday to turn things
around.
"He's battling this flu a little, and I think he just had to get his feet on the ground a little," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. "But did one heck of a job, putting those goose eggs up. He's a great competitor. He wasn't going to let that game get
away him."
"We've got to win series now," Beckett said of the Red Sox, who are fourth placed on the American League East standings.
Adrian Gonzalez provided the Red Sox with a decent start as he singled to left and Daniel Nava scored the opening run. Tampa Bay Rays were also determined to put up a solid show and they fought back to take a 3-1 lead in the first inning.
Mike Aviles provided Boston with the momentum as he drove in a two run short to centre in the second inning and Nava homered to right in the fifth to help his team comeback from behind to take a crucial 4-3 lead.
"I like the way we're coming together," Valentine said.
"We need to get some momentum going in this second half," Middlebrooks said.
Will Middlebrooks singled to centre in the fifth and Cody Ross hit a sacrifice fly to centre in the sixth to complete an impressive Red Sox victory.
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