Battered Beckett feeling the heat

For one delicious moment, you could be hoodwinked into believing this was exactly the kind of performance you had been pining for. Josh Beckett, the young arm on which so many Red Sox hopes are pinned, the same one who was recently bestowed a three-year extension worth $30 million, was systematically compiling evidence, inning after inning, that would give credence to the notion he was the nastiest pitcher in the American League at this exact second.

He was throwing hard -- doesn't he always? -- and he was locating his fastball with the kind of precision that flummoxes hitters into poor swings and bad decisions.

Not only that, he had served up but one home run ball, to Aaron (bleeping) Boone, the lone blemish on what was shaping up to be a masterpiece. Beckett has been susceptible to the long ball all season, primarily because hitters are waiting for a chance to tee off on his 96-mile-per-hour fastballs, but it seemed briefly as though that strategy would go for naught.

Through five innings, Beckett was in total command. The same pitcher who struggled with his control earlier in the season had not given up a walk.

He was leading, 3-1, on the cusp of joining Justin Verlander as the only 14-game winner in the AL, and on the verge of providing the kind of outing this battered Red Sox team so desperately needed.

Boston's hitters had bailed out their pitching staff again and again with improbable, ludicrous late-game heroics, but for a fleeting moment, it appeared their mettle would not be required. Three runs, it seemed, would be enough.

``It felt," said manager Terry Francona, almost wistfully, ``so good."

When Beckett induced leadoff hitter Grady Sizemore into a routine ground out in the sixth, you felt so convinced of his mojo you barely even noticed when the next batter, Joe Inglett, stroked a single. The ever-dangerous Travis Hafner certainly gave fans pause when he settled into the batter's box, but surely the nastiest pitcher in the AL could handle him.

Right?

Hafner worked the count to 2 and 1, then teed off on Beckett's poorly placed fastball, depositing the ball just inside the right-field foul pole for a two-run shot.

Just like that, the electric moment was lost, the score was tied, 3-3, and the Beckett highlight reel had suffered irreparable damage.

And, yet, there was still time for Beckett to regain his composure, his swagger, his stake in this outing. With Boston's potent lineup, no game is out of reach. Beckett could have salvaged his evening -- and his team's chances.

Instead, he gave up a single to Victor Martinez on a full count, and another single to Casey Blake, and an infield hit to Todd Hollandsworth.

And that's when it got really nasty for this supposed ace, this pitcher who needs to step up and shoulder some of the load while more than half of the Opening Day rotation languishes on the disabled list, along with its captain catcher and its veteran right fielder.

With the bases loaded, Beckett was left to face Shin-Soo Choo, a 24-year-old right fielder who had logged but 23 total at-bats against big league righthanders this season. Two of those at-bats were in this game. His batting average at the exact moment he faced Beckett was .173 . Did we mention Choo was playing in his 19th major league game of his young life?

Choo jumped on the first pitch -- a fastball down the middle of the plate -- and launched it to the center-field diamond for his first career grand slam, breaking open the game by providing Cleveland with a swift -- and stunning -- 7-3 lead.

``I was looking fastball all the way," Choo said. ``I just try to be aggressive. In my second at-bat, I hit [his fastball pretty good], so I thought he might throw something different. But he didn't."

He rarely does. When Beckett gets in trouble, he rears back and relies on the heat. Yet he often lacks the command at those critical junctures, preventing him from discerning a good strike from a bad one. And, without a consistent offspeed pitch, teams just sit and wait for the fastball. If Beckett doesn't locate it properly, like last night, those mistakes become deal-breakers.

``I didn't execute pitches," Beckett said. ``With a good-hitting team like that, you can't leave balls down the middle of the plate. Looking back at Hafner, and at Choos or Cho or whatever his name is, that's what I did."

For the sixth time this season, Beckett gave up three or more home runs in a game. That's not a typo. He has given up 31 dingers on the season, increasing his major league lead over Scott Elarton of Kansas City, who has coughed up 26.

When Springsteen crooned, ``He could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool, boy," you could have made the argument he was singing about Beckett through five -- but definitely not through six.

``It's like I threw two different games," Beckett said with a sigh.

Credit Beckett for one thing: He consistently stands up and assumes responsibility for his performance when he bombs.

``This loss is me," he said. ``Not anyone else."

Beckett knows he blew an opportunity to make a statement for his team, for himself. He is still 13-6, could still prove to be the key to this entire pennant race, but the Red Sox needed this game. They needed a night when their pitcher of the future demonstrated why he could be the nastiest pitcher in the American League.

The operative words are ``could be." Beckett still hasn't proven it. Not yet. Last night would have been an optimal time to build his case, particularly with the Yankees long in the books with a W after an 8-1 matinee romp over Toronto. But the Sox woke up this morning one game behind New York (two in the loss column), wondering when Beckett will finally break free of these lapses, alter his repertoire, and become the dominant pitcher we all believe he could be.

It's still only August. But the home team is beat up, and there's no help on the way (unless you consider Javy Lopez a savior), and somebody other than David Ortiz needs to conjure some magic to keep this team in the hunt. Beckett acknowledged last night he feels the pressure of the Yankees' success, and his expected role (along with Curt Schilling) as key players who must be stoppers.

``Yeah, you feel like you have to win," he acknowledged. ``They're playing well. It's definitely a deal where we need to turn it up a little bit."

True to form, Boston's hitters chipped away at the deficit last night, doing their best to make a game of it. They ended up on the short end of the 7-6 score, and Beckett recorded the loss.

Sometimes, those L's feel like they should count for more than one. Lucky for Beckett, they never do.

Jackie MacMullan is a Globe columnist. Her e-mail address is macmullan@globe.com.