Few bumps in the road

OAKLAND, Calif. -- His splits were astounding. He had lost just a single game at Fenway Park, though it was in his last outing at home, against these same Oakland A's. He had lost four starts on the road. He had a 3.09 ERA in Boston, and a 6.33 ERA on the road.

It was easy to have faith in Josh Beckett in Fenway. It was much harder to have it anywhere else.

But, after being handed a four-run lead last night on third-inning home runs by Alex Gonzalez and Manny Ramírez, Beckett exorcised the A's, who had rocked him for seven runs in a 15-3 beat-down July 14, working six strong innings in a 7-3 win at McAfee Coliseum.

``I think it was just a matter of executing pitches," said Beckett, who admitted that he refused to watch video of his previous start against the A's. ``I had a pretty good sinker going today. I felt like even when I got behind in the count, it was a pitch that I could command and throw where I wanted it to go. Got some key outs."

Beckett became the majors' first 13-game winner and the earliest Red Sox to reach that number since Derek Lowe on July 17, 2002. The major difference between the two? When Lowe won his 13th, his ERA was a meager 2.45, best in the American League. Beckett's now stands at 4.77.

``He had a couple, three starts, earlier in the season where he really got roughed up," said manager Terry Francona, who considered sending Beckett back out for the seventh inning, but decided on Craig Hansen. ``He was frustrated. But he's been pretty good. [Oakland's] a real patient team. They have a tendency of running your pitch count up, which they want to do. I thought he got a lead and he did a good job with it."

And though Nick Swisher sent one of his pitches over the fence in right for another home run (28), adding to his record-pace total, the solo shot hardly hurt anything more than his pride.

His pitches were clocked upward of 98 miles per hour by a seemingly generous radar gun -- the highest reading on a strikeout of Milton Bradley in the first inning. Only No. 9 hitter Mark Ellis managed a hit off Beckett in the first four innings -- a single to left-center in the third. Though he allowed four more hits and three runs, it hardly mattered. Because Oakland starter Barry Zito had given up seven runs himself.

Despite a messy sixth that started with a walk to Jason Kendall, continued with singles by Mark Kotsay and Milton Bradley, and ground to a near halt with a double play ball off the bat of Frank Thomas, Beckett pitched effectively, using his breaking ball to set up hitters, especially to Thomas in a crucial at-bat.

Beckett has now had two straight strong starts since signing a three-year, $30 million contract extension that will keep him in Boston for the near future, helping to justify both the salary bump and the belief the Red Sox front office showed in a pitcher who has been inconsistent in his first season with the team.

``I never felt like he was thinking about it," Francona said of Beckett's new deal. ``But I think it's great that it's done. He's got some pretty high aspirations. I think, if anything, it will spur him on."