Of Josh Beckett’s sudden meltdown two-thirds of the way thru Friday’s 10-3 loss to the Yankees, Red Sox manager Terry Francona opined, “”It went south as fast as it could”. Others, however, are more focused on Beckett plunking Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter and coming awfully close to rearranging the facial features of Francisco Cervelli.  “You think A-Rod is selfish?” asks Was Watching’s Corey Italiano, who fails to credit Beckett with addressing Joe West’s pace-of-game concerns.



Beckett, for some reason, would not take the Yankees stepping out of the box lightly and it might have cost the Red Sox the game. In his first two at bats, Cano stepped out after Beckett took forever to deliver the pitch. So what does Beckett do during the third at bat? He takes Cano out of the game drilling him in the back knee.

Then there™s Cervelli. During Cervelli™s second at bat, Cervelli also stepped out of the box when Beckett would stand on the mound trying to disrupt a runner™s timing (He was literally waiting like 20-30 seconds from the set position on the mound). So what did Beckett do? He threw a pitch that almost hit Cervelli in the face. Then, in the 6th with the bases loaded and 3-2 count, Beckett again takes forever to deliver the ball. Cervelli called time just like in his last plate appearance. And, just like his last plate appearance, Beckett almost hits him in the face with pretty much the same idential pitch and location, walking in a run in the process. Cervelli went to first shaking his head, knowing what had happened.

If you ask me, Sunday is prime time for a Burnett fastball in between the red 2 and 0.