Beckett better, but not blithe

By the time David Ortiz's walkoff homer had settled into the seats beyond the bullpens, Josh Beckett's struggles had been forgotten by most of the 36,232 present for yesterday's doubleheader opener at Fenway. But Beckett remembered.

It has been a disheartening stretch for the former World Series MVP, whose past three starts have lasted a combined 11 1/3 innings, during which he has given up 19 runs (17 earned) and seven home runs, including a two-run shot by Kevin Mench that ended Beckett's afternoon and gave the Rangers a 4-2 advantage in the sixth. But at least this start was better than last Monday's. How much better, though, depended on which Red Sox employee you believe.

``Coming off two really bad outings, today was definitely subpar," Beckett said, after Ortiz's three-run homer had gotten him off the hook in the 5-4 win. ``You want to work a little bit deeper into that game. The fifth inning took a lot out of me as far as pitch count goes . . . Any time you get those close games like that it comes down to those three or four pitches that you must execute. That [pitch to Mench] was one that I needed to execute and I didn't get it done."

``It was definitely an improvement on the last couple of outings," manager Terry Francona said. ``They made him throw a lot of pitches [112]. I thought he two-seamed it more effectively, got his breaking ball over. The pitch that Mench hit was actually a changeup that he threw a bit too firm."

Beckett -- who has an 8.31 ERA in the first inning this season, and 7.82 in the first two -- continued his early woes, allowing an unearned run in the first on an error by first baseman Kevin Youkilis, a walk to Hank Blalock, and a double by Mark DeRosa. Then, as has been his custom, especially at Fenway, he plowed through the next three innings, a third-inning single by Mark Teixeira his only blemish.

Then came the fifth. Two doubles -- including a disputed one by Ian Kinsler down the left-field line that tied the game at 2-2 -- plus a walk yielded a 37-pitch inning that ended on Beckett's 101st pitch, a 95-mile-per-hour fastball that Blalock watched go by.

After getting DeRosa looking on an 87-m.p.h. changeup to start the sixth, Beckett lost Brad Wilkerson to a walk and Mench lost his home run into the Monster seats on the pitcher's final pitch, one he called ``pretty lousy."

``With guys like [Mike] Timlin out and [Keith] Foulke being gone, [a low pitch count] becomes a little more critical to us winning the game," Francona said. ``I always feel like he can get out of an inning because he has good stuff and the ability to reach back, but it limits how many innings [he can throw]."

Between his abysmal 1 1/3-inning start at Yankee Stadium last Monday and yesterday's passable outing, Beckett said he tinkered with his mechanics, trying to rediscover the form that yielded a 3-0 record and 2.16 ERA in his four previous home starts. By not lifting his hands over his head during his delivery, Beckett felt he corrected a flaw that caused him to drift to the third base side of the mound.

``Any time you go 5 1/3 and give up four runs, it's not a good outing," Beckett said. ``Did I have my best stuff today? No. But I had stuff to work with. I definitely had good enough stuff to get outs.

``You've got to make adjustments. You've got to get better every start. That's something that I physically and mentally need to prepare myself for. I just got in a rut and I've got to get myself out. Nobody else is going to get me out of it. You've got to get yourself out. This was definitely an improvement for me because I don't go home knowing I lost the game for the team. Papi picked me up."