Beckett scattered six hits over seven scoreless innings, allowing one walk while ringing up five strikeouts, and entrusted a 1-0 lead to the bullpen. He departed after throwing 103 pitches, 70 for strikes.

“He was tremendous,’’ manager Terry Francona. “One walk. He really pitched well. We’ve come to kind of expect that, which is good for us. He feels good about himself. He’s throwing a lot of strikes with all his pitches and been really effective.’’

But even after submitting his third quality start in four outings, it was wasn’t enough for Beckett (1.99 ERA) to earn his third win of the season.

“From our standpoint down in the bullpen, one thing we take a lot of pride in is holding the game for our starters and putting them in a situation to win,’’ said Jonathan Papelbon, who was called upon to relieve Alfredo Aceves with a runner on second and two out in the top of the eighth. “You know, unfortunately tonight, we were a broken-bat bloop hit away from that.’’

Papelbon, who hadn’t had a save opportunity in 16 days, was charged with the blown save when he gave up that bloop single to designated hitter Jason Kubel. It scored Denard Span, who reached on a hit off Aceves and advanced on a balk, with the tying run.

Papelbon got out of the inning when he struck out Justin Morneau with a 95-mile-per-hour fastball. He came back in the ninth and retired the side in order, getting Danny Valencia and Michael Cuddyer to fly to right before Ben Revere lined to third baseman Kevin Youkilis.

“I knew we still had a chance in the game,’’ Papelbon said. “It’s just frustrating for me that I wasn’t able to go out there and do my part. At the same time, I can’t complain with the way I’m throwing the baseball. I mean, I’ve got to look at it as one broken-bat bloop hit, so I just keep moving ahead.’’

As for Beckett? “He looked good,’’ Papelbon said. “He was throwing the ball downhill. He was the Josh Beckett we all know.’’

“Josh Beckett did good, but it probably wasn’t his best feel on the baseball,’’ said catcher Jason Varitek. “We needed him today, with it being a low-scoring game.’’

Beckett had pitched just 10 1/3 innings in the previous 13 days. He was given extra rest after throwing 125 pitches in a 4-2 victory against the Angels April 21, for which he got a no-decision as well. A rain delay of 2 hours 35 minutes in his previous outing, last Wednesday against the Angels, limited him to 4 1/3 innings.

“It was a battle for him today,’’ Varitek said. “It was a tough feel on the baseball for him today. There was a lot of wind and you could tell just throwing the ball back to the mound. It wasn’t the easiest battle for him today, but he did a real good job of keeping within himself.’’

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.