Beckett shows no ill effects in first start back <h3>BOSTON 4, CLEVELAND 2</h3>BOSTON (Ticker) -- Josh Beckett took back his rightful place inthe Boston Red Sox rotation on Tuesday. Beckett shook off 15 days of rust with seven strong innings andKevin Youkilis continued his assault on American League pitchingto lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 victory over the ClevelandIndians. Jason Varitek homered and rookie Dustin Pedroia drew abases-loaded walk as the Red Sox picked up their fifth straightwin. Beckett (8-0), who began the season with wins in each of hisfirst seven starts, left his start on May 13 against Baltimorein the fourth inning with an avulsion on the middle finger ofhis right hand. The injury forced him to the 15-day disabledlist until the skin on his finger had healed. In the outing that led to his eventual 15-day absence, Beckettyielded two hits and two runs with seven strikeouts over fourframes. Beckett entered Tuesday's start 0-2 in his career with a 13.97ERA in two starts - both last season - against Cleveland, butallowed just two runs and three hits Tuesday. Beckett struckout seven and issued just one walk. Youkilis continued his recent tear, bashing a solo homer offCleveland starter Jeremy Sowers (1-5) in the sixth inning topush Boston's advantage to 3-0. The Red Sox's first baseman hadtwo hits and two RBI on Tuesday, marking the ninth straightgame he has at least two hits. The last Boston player to have nine straight multi-hit games wasJim Rice from May 1-9, 1978. Youkilis now leads the AL with 25multi-hit games and has at least one hit in 21 straightcontests. The Red Sox jumped on Sowers early, when Youkilis doubled homeJulio Lugo in the first inning to get on the board first. From that point, Sowers held Boston scoreless until Varitek ledoff the fifth with a homer over the wall in left. Youkilis'homer came leading off the sixth frame, and after two quickouts, Mike Lowell doubled to chase Sowers from the game. The Indians' 24-year-old lefthander tossed 5 2/3 innings,yielding four runs and six hits. Cleveland finally got to Beckett in the seventh. Jhonny Peraltahit a one-out single to right field, and Travis Hafner followedwith a drive down the right field line that bounced around thecorner past right fielder J.D. Drew, giving the burly designatedhitter an RBI triple. Hafner came in to score on VictorMartinez's sacrifice fly, making the score 4-2. Hideki Okajima pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save.
AL: CLEVELAND at BOSTON <div class="pre">AL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - CLEVELAND 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 4 0 BOSTON 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 x 4 7 0 (FINAL) BATTERIES: CLE - JEREMY SOWERS, FERNANDO CABRERA (6TH), RAFAEL PEREZ (7TH) AND VICTOR MARTINEZ BOS - JOSH BECKETT, BRENDAN DONNELLY (8TH), JAVIER LOPEZ (8TH), HIDEKI OKAJIMA (9TH) AND JASON VARITEK WP - JOSH BECKETT (8-0) LP - JEREMY SOWERS (1-5) SAVE - HIDEKI OKAJIMA (4) HOME RUNS: CLE - NONE BOS - JASON VARITEK (5) OFF JEREMY SOWERS IN THE 5TH, 0 ON KEVIN YOUKILIS (8) OFF JEREMY SOWERS IN THE 6TH, 0 ON TIME: 2:46 ATT: 37,076 PROBABLES: CLE - PAUL BYRD (5-1, 3.81) BOS - DAISUKE MATSUZAKA (7-2, 4.43)</div>
AL: CLEVELAND at BOSTON <div class="pre">CLEVELAND (2) VS BOSTON (4) - FINAL CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg G Sizemore cf 4 0 0 0 0 3 2 .266 J Peralta ss 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 .290 T Hafner dh 3 1 1 1 1 0 2 .260 V Martinez c 4 0 0 1 0 2 1 .308 T Nixon rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .275 R Garko 1b 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .329 D Dellucci lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .233 J Barfield 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .233 M Rouse 3b 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .135 a-C Blake ph-3b 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .271 Totals 29 2 4 2 2 9 8 a-singled to left for M Rouse in the 8th. BATTING: 3B - T Hafner (2, J Beckett). RBI - T Hafner (34), V Martinez (41). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - T Nixon 1, G Sizemore 1. GIDP - T Hafner. Team LOB - 3. BOSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg J Lugo ss 4 1 1 0 0 1 4 .230 C Crisp cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .234 K Youkilis 1b 4 1 2 2 0 0 0 .358 M Ramirez dh 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .268 J Drew rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .232 M Lowell 3b 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 .326 J Varitek c 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 .270 W Pena lf 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 .237 D Pedroia 2b 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 .302 Totals 31 4 7 4 4 5 10 BATTING: 2B - K Youkilis (17, J Sowers); M Lowell (14, J Sowers); M Ramirez (9, R Perez). HR - J Varitek (5, 5th inning off J Sowers 0 on, 0 Out), K Youkilis (8, 6th inning off J Sowers 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - K Youkilis 2 (30), J Varitek (25), D Pedroia (11). 2-out RBI - D Pedroia. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Lowell 1, J Drew 1, J Lugo 2. Team LOB - 7. FIELDING: Outfield assists - C Crisp (J Peralta at 1st base). DP: 2 (C Crisp-K Youkilis, D Pedroia-J Lugo-K Youkilis). ---------------------------------------------------- CLEVELAND - 000 000 200 -- 2 BOSTON - 100 012 00x -- 4 ---------------------------------------------------- CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era J Sowers (L, 1-5) 5 2/3 6 4 4 1 1 2 6.29 F Cabrera 1/3 0 0 0 3 1 0 5.49 R Perez 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 0.00 BOSTON ip h r er bb so hr era J Beckett (W, 8-0) 7 3 2 2 1 7 0 2.65 B Donnelly (H, 8) 2/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.71 J Lopez (H, 8) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.37 H Okajima (S, 4) 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 1.05 IBB - M Ramirez (by J Sowers). HBP - R Garko (by B Donnelly). Pitches-strikes: J Sowers 93-61; F Cabrera 22-7; R Perez 32-22; J Beckett 87-56; B Donnelly 11-5; J Lopez 2-1; H Okajima 23-13. Ground balls-fly balls: J Sowers 11-5; F Cabrera 0-0; R Perez 2-1; J Beckett 6-7; B Donnelly 0-2; J Lopez 1-0; H Okajima 1-0. Batters faced: J Sowers 24; F Cabrera 4; R Perez 7; J Beckett 23; B Donnelly 4; J Lopez 1; H Okajima 4. UMPIRES: HP--Chuck Meriwether. 1B--Alfonso Marquez. 2B--Tim Timmons. 3B--Rick Reed. T--2:46. Att--37,076. Weather: 78 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 10 mph, in from left.</div>
AL: CLEVELAND at BOSTON <div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CLEVELAND (2) AT BOSTON (4) - HOW THEY SCORED ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOSTON 1ST: J Lugo reached on bunt single to third. C Crisp flied out to center. K Youkilis doubled to left, J Lugo scored. M Ramirez intentionally walked. J Drew grounded into fielder's choice to first, M Ramirez out at second, K Youkilis to third. M Lowell flied out to center. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 1. BOSTON 5TH: J Varitek homered to left. W Pena struck out swinging. D Pedroia singled to center. J Lugo grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, D Pedroia out at second. C Crisp grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Lugo out at second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 2. BOSTON 6TH: K Youkilis homered to left. M Ramirez grounded out to third. J Drew grounded out to shortstop. M Lowell doubled to left. F Cabrera relieved J Sowers. J Varitek walked. W Pena walked, M Lowell to third, J Varitek to second. D Pedroia walked, M Lowell scored, J Varitek to third, W Pena to second. J Lugo struck out looking. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 4. CLEVELAND 7TH: G Sizemore struck out looking. J Peralta singled to right. T Hafner tripled to right, J Peralta scored. V Martinez grounded out to first, T Hafner scored. T Nixon struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, BOSTON 4.</div>
AL: CLEVELAND at BOSTON <div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CLEVELAND (2) AT BOSTON (4) - EVENT LOG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cleveland Starting Lineups -- G Sizemore CF, J Peralta SS, T Hafner DH, V Martinez C, T Nixon RF, R Garko 1B, D Dellucci LF, J Barfield 2B, M Rouse 3B, J Sowers LHP. Boston Starting Lineups -- J Lugo SS, C Crisp CF, K Youkilis 1B, M Ramirez DH, J Drew RF, M Lowell 3B, J Varitek C, W Pena LF, D Pedroia 2B, J Beckett RHP. Umpires -- Chuck Meriwether (HP), Alfonso Marquez (1B), Tim Timmons (2B), Rick Reed (3B). Gametime Weather: 78 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind in from left at 10 mph. CLEVELAND 1ST: G Sizemore struck out swinging. J Peralta singled to right. T Hafner flied into double play, center to first, J Peralta doubled off first.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 0. BOSTON 1ST: J Lugo reached on bunt single to third. C Crisp flied out to center. K Youkilis doubled to left, J Lugo scored. M Ramirez intentionally walked. J Drew grounded into fielder's choice to first, M Ramirez out at second, K Youkilis to third. M Lowell flied out to center. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 1. CLEVELAND 2ND: V Martinez flied out to center. T Nixon flied out to center. R Garko flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 1. BOSTON 2ND: J Varitek grounded out to second. W Pena flied out to center. D Pedroia fouled out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 1. CLEVELAND 3RD: D Dellucci flied out to right. J Barfield grounded out to shortstop. M Rouse struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 1. BOSTON 3RD: J Lugo grounded out to first. C Crisp flied out to center. K Youkilis grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 1. CLEVELAND 4TH: G Sizemore struck out swinging. J Peralta walked. T Hafner grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, J Peralta out at second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 1. BOSTON 4TH: M Ramirez grounded out to third. J Drew grounded out to second. M Lowell grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 1. CLEVELAND 5TH: V Martinez struck out swinging. T Nixon grounded out to first. R Garko grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 1. BOSTON 5TH: J Varitek homered to left. W Pena struck out swinging. D Pedroia singled to center. J Lugo grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, D Pedroia out at second. C Crisp grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Lugo out at second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 2. CLEVELAND 6TH: D Dellucci flied out to center. J Barfield struck out swinging. M Rouse flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 2. BOSTON 6TH: K Youkilis homered to left. M Ramirez grounded out to third. J Drew grounded out to shortstop. M Lowell doubled to left. F Cabrera relieved J Sowers. J Varitek walked. W Pena walked, M Lowell to third, J Varitek to second. D Pedroia walked, M Lowell scored, J Varitek to third, W Pena to second. J Lugo struck out looking. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, BOSTON 4. CLEVELAND 7TH: G Sizemore struck out looking. J Peralta singled to right. T Hafner tripled to right, J Peralta scored. V Martinez grounded out to first, T Hafner scored. T Nixon struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, BOSTON 4. BOSTON 7TH: R Perez relieved F Cabrera. C Crisp struck out swinging. K Youkilis flied out to right. M Ramirez doubled to deep center. J Drew grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, BOSTON 4. CLEVELAND 8TH: B Donnelly relieved J Beckett. R Garko hit by pitch. D Dellucci popped out to shortstop. J Barfield flied out to right. C Blake hit for M Rouse. C Blake singled to left, R Garko to second. J Lopez relieved B Donnelly. G Sizemore grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, BOSTON 4. BOSTON 8TH: C Blake at third base. M Lowell struck out swinging. J Varitek grounded out to shortstop. W Pena struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, BOSTON 4. CLEVELAND 9TH: H Okajima relieved J Lopez. J Peralta grounded out to third. T Hafner walked. V Martinez struck out swinging. T Hafner to second on Runner's fielder's choice. T Nixon struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, BOSTON 4.</div>
