Sox Get Blasted, Lose Ground

Most of the time, it's a good thing when you take two out of three from the LA Angels. Tonight, it just wasn't good enough, as the Sox fell 7-2 and lost some more ground on their superiors in the hunt for a postseason spot.

Former ace Josh Beckett took the hill looking to regain the mojo that he's lacked all season long for the Red Sox. Beckett shined through his first 5 innings, allowing just 2 hits and no runs while holding a 1-0 lead in the game. In the sixth, though, he missed a spot and Hideki Matsui made him pay for it. With two runners on, Matsui drilled a low and inside fastball over the wall in right field to break the game open at 4-1. In the following inning, the Angels would strike 3 more times -- 2 of those runs charged to Becket (6.2 IP, 6 ER) -- for the 7-1 lead. It was all the Angels needed.

Boston got their runs on a David Ortiz homerun in the fourth inning and an Adrian Beltre sacrifice fly in the 8th inning. The 8th had potential for the Red Sox -- who loaded the bases with nobody out -- but they were only able to come away with one run from it. The Yankees won against Detroit and the Rays are just getting started out in Oakland. The bottom line, though, is that Boston's deficit didn't get any smaller, and they have one less game to make it up.