Beckett set to face locked-in Rox</p> BOSTON -- All postseason long, Josh Beckett has looked like a pitcher who cannot be beaten. Here's one opponent who actually beat him up.</p> Though Beckett picked up seven losses among his 20 wins in the regular season, he topped only five runs allowed in one game all year. That came courtesy of the Rockies, who used a Garrett Atkins grand slam and Matt Holliday solo homer to knock him out after five innings en route to a 7-1 loss.</p> Beckett was literally unbeatable up to that point, a perfect 9-0 heading into that June 14 outing here at Fenway Park, and he didn't exactly flounder from there on out. Now it's the Rockies who look hard to beat after 21 wins in their last 22 games.</p> As Beckett tries to cool them off in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night, he isn't making a big deal of reflecting on that June outing. And he isn't expecting to gleam any special knowledge from having faced them then.</p> "They've always had a good lineup," Beckett said. "I think now they've got some pitchers that know how to pitch, because they were just kind of mixing and matching when I was in the National League, but they've always been able to hit. There was never a question about any of their ability to spit out hitters, Todd Helton being a guy from quite a long time ago, but they've always been able to put a good team out there."</p> Until June, they had never been able to beat Beckett. He was 4-0 in five starts against them when he was a blossoming ace with the Florida Marlins, allowing just two home runs and 10 earned runs over 32 innings. Yet many of the Rockies have a history of hitting him.</p> Atkins is 6-for-10 in his career off Beckett. Holliday is 6-for-14. Atkins is 6-for-10. Helton is 4-for-12 with four walks, meaning he has reached base in half of his plate appearances. For that matter, no Rockies player with at least 10 plate appearances against Beckett has fewer than four hits.</p> Colorado cranked out 10 hits vs. Beckett this summer. Atkins was 3-for-3, while Holliday had a long double to go with his home run. Asked whether that history helps, however, Holliday wasn't so sure.</p> "Maybe from a confidence standpoint," he said. "But no, it doesn't do anything for tomorrow. That [win] was four months ago."</p> The Rockies were a team looking for confidence at that point in the season, especially on offense. That's no longer a problem now, and Beckett doesn't think eight days off for the Rockies since their last game will be a problem for it.</p> "They're going to be locked in," Beckett said. "That's the way it is in October. I keep saying that. They're not worried about that. It was a good chance for them to rest, and I don't think that any of them are going to be using that as an excuse, and I don't think that that's something that we should use as an excuse, either.</p> "They've been hitting. They've been taking BP, whether it be in a cage or on the field. Their guys are going to be locked in. That's the way October is."</p> Beckett isn't exactly hurting for some self-assurance, either. Not only was he the man who pitched the Red Sox to an opening win in the American League Championship Series, he pitched them back into the series once they were on the brink of elimination facing a 3-1 deficit.</p> "We've leaned on him all year," manager Terry Francona said last week.</p> Francona could've used Beckett in Game 7 of the ALCS on Sunday night, and he had him stretching out in the bullpen in case. However, Francona cautioned, he only wanted to go to Beckett if they needed him, not to create a situation for him. Daisuke Matsuzaka's solid performance and two scoreless innings of relief from Hideki Okajima assured that wouldn't be necessary.</p> The result is a huge advantage in the World Series. Beckett can start Game 1 as planned and Game 5 if necessary Monday in Denver.</p> Win those two, and the rest of the Red Sox starters can split their starts and hoist a trophy when they're done. Two wins would also put him in position to rank among the best postseasons in recent memory. But holding down the Rockies, let alone beating him, isn't exactly an afterthought.</p> </p> Josh Beckett doesn't feel Colorado's layoff will be an issue in Game 1</p> </p>
Rain a likely factor for Game 1</p> BOSTON -- The 103rd World Series between the Rockies and Red Sox is scheduled to start with a first pitch at 8:23 ET tonight, and from all accounts, rain is likely to interfere to some degree and now poses a significant threat to Game 1.</p> "We always try to play games when scheduled if possible," Major League Baseball president Bob DuPuy said of the ominous forecast. "Obviously, player safety and not burning starting pitchers if the game does not start or is shortened are concerns, as is the comfort of the fans in attendance. Ultimately the decision will be made by the Commissioner taking all these factors into account."</p> "Bring the GoreTex" was the morning advice to Red Sox fans on the local NPR news radio station in Boston, WBUR. Indeed, the best-case scenario seems to be drizzle during the game and steady-to-heavy rain holding off until 11 or 12. It could be one of those nights when you root for the game to become official in the fifth.</p> "I'm looking at the radar and there's one area of light showers moving through now, then a bit of a break, then an area of much heavier rain down off the Atlantic Coast, which we're most concerned about," Terry Eliasen, executive weather producer and meteorologist at CBS Ch. 4 told MLB.com at 12:30 p.m. ET. "Between now and game time, it will be just spotty to light showers. But later in the evening, perhaps 9 or 10 o'clock, that area off the Mid-Atlantic Coast could bring steady or heavier showers to the Boston area.</p> "I would expect the game will start off OK, probably with no delay. But I wouldn't be surprised by the middle of the game to see some steady rain coming down. I know they want to play it. It's going to be a damp night there any way you slice it. Just hope it's light rain and not steady to heavy moderate rain.</p> "Once it starts, it's going to be fairly steady through the evening into early tomorrow morning. It's not like we'll have to wait for a heavy shower to go by and then we'll be in the clear. It's inevitable we'll face some rain during the game. It's just a matter of when that steady to heavy weather comes in."</p> Eliasen said they have "a few models, and the more optimistic would be not till toward the end of game, toward 11 or midnight. Lighter showers or drizzle and then heavier weather comes in after the game." But, he added, "the more likely scenario is this: Game starts around 8:30, and if it doesn't end until 11 or 12, I would guess there will be steadier and heavier rain at Fenway."</p> Knock on the closest wooden bat, but there has been no postponement by weather yet this postseason. Last year, there were four rainouts. It happened once in the Division Series round, twice in the League Championship Series, and then Game 4 of the World Series at St. Louis had to be pushed back a day because of rain. That was a huge issue, because Cardinals fans who were holding tickets to the original Game 4 thus were able to keep those and watch the team clinch the world championship; fans who held original Game 5 tickets wound up watching Game 4 instead.</p> A devout member of Red Sox Nation himself, Eliasen said he is well aware of the American League champions' penchant for taking dramatic postseason games way, way past midnight. Then again, he knows they have ace Josh Beckett on the mound, although throwing a classic postseason shutout at that Rockies offense would be a chore.</p> "[The Red Sox] are classic for taking a lot of pitches and prolonging these games," he said. "Having watched every bit of every game here and gotten a lack of sleep myself, I can attest that their games are always long. Maybe the Rockies will swing at all first pitches.</p> "You hate to see the first game of the World Series shortened by rain. My guess is they'll try to play it no matter what. They can't wait it out. It won't stop for a while if it starts raining steady and heavy."</p> </p>
