First, you need to understand who Josh Beckett is. He takes credit for nothing. He takes responsibility for everything. And he is not at all interested in pounding his chest so much as he interested in thumping the competition, mostly because he believes that self-promotion is for losers.

"I feel like I did my job," Beckett said following last night’s 8-2 win over the Detroit Tigers that left him with a 14-4 record and 3.10 ERA this season. "It’s not that I’m not happy with myself. I just don’t let myself look back and I don’t look forward. Looking at the results is something I’ve done in the past and it’s something I generally don’t let myself fall back into."

So he focuses on the here and now, on the only time that matters, on the moment.

Lose yourself.

Beckett made his 23d start for the Red Sox last night, which is noteworthy on a number of levels. With five more starts, he will trigger the $12 million option on his contract for next season, though the Red Sox were certain to exercise that anyway. And why not? Since May 1, a span covering 18 starts, Beckett’s 2.17 ERA is the best in the American League. During that stretch, he is 12-2 while holding opponents to a .208 average. He has done it all while averaging 14.9 pitches per inning, efficiency nearly unheard of for a man who averages better than eight strikeouts per nine innings.

Beckett has been so darned good that last night, he actually sounded happy with himself, which is to say that he was not dismissive or contemptuous when the conversation turned to him.

"He’s never complacent," pitching coach John Farrell said of his ace. "I think anything less than seven innings is not good enough for him. On a night like [last night], when he turns the game over to the bullpen and the game is in control -- not over, but in control -- I think he takes some satisfaction in that. But it would never affect the next four days and how he prepares for the next start."

Again using May 1 as a starting line, Beckett has averaged better than seven innings per start, never pitching fewer than six. He has three complete games and two shutouts. The Red Sox have outscored opponents 90-48, a ratio of roughly 2–to-1. Take away Beckett’s one bad outing during that stretch -- an 11-6 Sox loss at Philadelphia on June 14 -- and the Sox have taken apart opponents by the count of 84-37, an average score of roughly 5-2.

Following last night’s game, Sox manager Terry Francona would not go so far as to say that he can plan his bullpen around Beckett’s outings every five days, but he effectively admitted that, at this stage, Beckett could only be derailed by an unforeseen happening.

"We certainly know he’s coming and we have expectations when he’s pitching," Francona said. "But I don’t think we can ever [plan] that with anybody. All it takes is for someone to take a ball off the shin. If you’re not prepared for something fluky, you can get yourself in a bind."

At the moment, make no mistake: if Beckett were to get knocked around in his next start -- against Toronto on Tuesday -- it would qualify as fluky.

Last night, particularly without slugger Miguel Cabrera, the Tigers never really had a chance. Beckett retired the first 11 batters of the game before walking Clete Thomas with two outs in the fourth. He did not allow a hit until Carlos Guillen’s leadoff homer in the fifth. Detroit went just 3 for 23 against him and had only two at-bats with men on base, the first producing a strikeout by Marcus Thames, the second a double-play ground out by Magglio Ordonez. Of Beckett’s 97 pitches, 89 were from the windup. He threw a mere eight pitches from the stretch, seven of those came in the strikeout of Thames following the two-out walk to Thomas in the fourth.

With 49 games now remaining in this season, we all know where the Red Sox stand. Currently the possessors of a two-game lead in the wild card race, the Sox are 17-6 when Beckett pitches, 31-15 in games started by Beckett or Jon Lester. Behind anyone else, the Sox are 34-33. The inconsistency of the Boston rotation beyond the top two starters has made the outings of Beckett and Lester virtual must-win situations. Last week, though Beckett and Lester allowed two runs in 20 innings covering three starts combined, the Sox nonetheless lost six in a row to their two chief division rivals.

This week, of course, the opposite is happening. Because the Sox won behind both Brad Penny and Junichi Tazawa, they took the field last night behind their ace with a good chance at a three-game winning streak. If Clay Buchholz can somehow find a way to neutralize Justin Verlander this afternoon, the Sox will send Lester to the mound tomorrow night against the Rangers -- suddenly, that looks like a very big series -- with a reasonable chance to win five in a row.

"You come here everyday with the guys you have at the major league level, and you go out there and you except to win," said Sox outfielder Jason Bay. "And then there are those that Josh is pitching. You really feel like you have a chance, and sometimes it might only take one run. The way he’s been going, save maybe a couple starts early on, he’s been unbelievable. It’s a blast to play behind. It’s Cy Young stuff. Every team needs that guy, that stopper, that ace. Right now, he’s that and then some."

Nearly four years ago, when the Red Sox acquired Beckett in a landmark deal with the Florida Marlins, the young righthander was coming off a career-best 15-win season that seemed like a potential spring board for his career. Even though Beckett struggled in 2006, he still won 16 games. Today, beginning with that 15-win campaign in Florida, Beckett has more wins over the last five seasons (77) than any pitcher in the game but Johan Santana (79), though the two have the same winning percentage (.658). The Red Sox have yet another king in the royal line that has run from Roger Clemens to Pedro Martinez to Curt Schilling, and Beckett’s legacy in Boston is being etched right before our very eyes.

Every five days, it seems, the Red Sox can take a breath.

Right now, with regard to Beckett, even the man himself cannot find too much to complain about.