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Beckett, Red Sox Look To Finish Off Angels

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By JIMMY GOLEN

The Associated Press

Published: October 5, 2008

BOSTON - The Los Angeles Angels might have thought they caught a break when they didn't have to face Red Sox ace Josh Beckett in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Turns out, they'll have to get past him today to keep their season alive.

Beckett said Saturday he's ready to pitch in Game 3 of the best-of-five AL playoff series against Los Angeles. That means that if Angels lefty Joe Saunders is going to force a Game 4 on Monday, he'll have to do it against Beckett, one of the best postseason pitchers in baseball history.

"He loves that pressure situation," Red Sox reliever Justin Masterson said. "When you have a 2-0 lead on the board and Josh Beckett on the mound, it's a great feeling. He's one of my favorites to watch.

"What we need to do is jump on them early. In baseball terms, we have to jump on their throats and not give them any momentum."

Beckett has won five consecutive postseason starts dating to Game 6 of the 2003 World Series, when he pitched a five-hit shutout on three days' rest to help Florida eliminate the Yankees. He won all four of his postseason starts last year, when Boston swept the Angels in the first round en route to its second championship in four seasons.

In all, Beckett is 6-2 with a 1.73 ERA in the postseason - the third-lowest playoff ERA ever for pitchers with at least 40 innings.

"The stage, or the size of the game, he doesn't shrink from that," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "I think he looks forward to the challenge. He has pitched in some unbelievable games - not just in the postseason. But when you get to the postseason, he has been some kind of pitcher."

Indeed, Beckett has been plenty good in the regular season, too.

He was the only 20-game winner in the majors last year, going 36-18 in his first two seasons in Boston as he became the ace of the staff. But this season he was just 12-10 with a 4.03 ERA while fighting off right elbow tendinitis in August and a strained oblique muscle that scratched him from the regular-season finale.

With Beckett pushed back from his presumptive series-opening start, Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka filled in at Anaheim and staked the Red Sox to a 2-0 lead in the series. Now Beckett will have a chance to eliminate the team that had beaten Boston eight straight times this season.

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