Posted by Matt Sisson on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 10:59 pm

Coming live from Press Box tonight at Fenway Park…The 509th consecutive sell out at Fenway Park.

As the fans rolled into what was a soggy Fenway Park a few hours before game time, the rain that had fallen earlier still covered the seats, railings and walk ways that snake through the parks seats.  My walk from Beacon street to the park left me drenched despite my rain coats attempt at keeping me dry, but somehow at the beginning of the game, the sun was out.  Frustration with the weather around here has been a common theme, and chatter around the press box while the tarp was still on the field was no different.

Like the weather, the Sox have been dreary as of late and are on the verge of losing back-to-back series for the first time since July 25-30 in July of 2008.  Tonight, Boston looked to it’s All-Star ace, Josh Beckett to get them back on track.  Coming into tonight’s game, Beckett was undefeated in 7 starts at Fenway Park, going 4-0 with a 2.87 ERA (15ER/47.0IP).  More impressive than that is the fact that Beckett hadn’t allowed an earned run in his last 3 starts  at Fenway Park (23.0 IP)  and has held opponents to a .143 avg. with 20K’s and just 3 walks over that span.  When asked about it in his post game press conference Beckett stated, “I like pitching here…There’s a full house every night.”  He also said that he made a few mistakes, one coming in the first inning when rhe ended the scoreless inning streak came to an end on a solo home run by Scott Hairston on a 1-0, 96 mph four-seamer that was hit a mile high off the light tower in left field. Beckett’s troubles wouldn’t last though, he would eventually go on to continue his home undefeated streak and earn himself his 10th win of the season.  Francona said that he felt that “Josh picked up where he left off in the last 4 innings in Baltimore” and that “Beckett has matured into a fearless guy who people in the clubhouse look up to.”

Despite having the second best record in baseball before the game and being tied for the best home record in the American League, the Red Sox have lost 3 of their first 4 games during their current homestand.  Pitching hasn’t been Boston’s problem though.  Boston is hitting just .249 over the last 30 days, ranking them tied for 20th place in the majors and 10th in the American League.  Tonight Boston’s bats came alive against Dana Eveland, who was the A’s opening day starter but was sent down on May 5th after posting a 7.40 ERA in 5 starts and a relief appearance.  Jason Bay homered (20) in the bottom of the second to start the inning, one of his two hits on the night.  David Ortiz and J.D. Drew doubled early in the game and Jacoby Ellsbury had two hits and stole his 36th base with a steal of 3rd. By the bottom of the 3rd and just 53 pitches,  the A’s had someone warming up in their bullpen.  Edgar Gonzalez would replace Dana Eveland  after just 71 pitches over 2.2 innings.  Eveland final line would read 2.2IP 6H 4ER 3BB 2K’s and a ERA of 8.00.  With tonight’s loss, Eveland drops to 0-2 with a 17.36 in three career starts against the Red Sox.

Here’s a quick look at Eveland’s pitch speeds from tonight’s game:

Yesterday Ellsbury became just the 3rd player in Red Sox history to steal at least 35 bases in back-to-back seasons, the first since Tris Speaker did it from 1909- 1910 & again for 3 straight seasons from 1912-1914.  Before Speaker it was  Harry Hooper from 1910-1911.  Ellsbury is also the first Major Leaguer with 35 or more steals before the All-Star break in consecutive seasons since Jose Reyes did it from 2006-2007 & the first American Leaguer  to do it since Rickey Henderson who did it in 3 straight seasons from 1988-90.

Boston kept their tradition of scoring with two outs alive tonight by scoring two runs in the 3rd and another in the 6th.  Three of Boston’s five runs scored tonight came with two outs.  The Red Sox lead the American League and rank 2nd in the Majors with 167  2-out RBI behind the Colorado Rockies (169) coming into tonight’s game.  Boston also leads the Majors with a .369 on-base and a .463 slugging percentage.  The Red Sox also ranks second behind the Angels (.285) with a .277 batting average with 2 two outs.  In the last 30 days, the Sox have scored 130 runs (4th in AL) over the last 30 days while giving up 106 (4th in AL) which has helped them remain in or tied for first place for 25 games dating back to June 9th.  Boston’s last and longer rein in first place dates back to the 2007 when the Sox set a franchise record with 166 days (144 games) in first that started back on April 18th of the season.

What’s also helped Boston is the impressive outings by two time All-Star Josh Beckett.  Beckett’s final line on the night was 6.2 IP 6H 2 ER 1 BB 4 K’s which was good enough for the W.  If you look at the Pitch-f/x game data you’ll notice that as the game went on, Beckett’s velocity dropped after pitch 86 and never went above 94 mph after that… It’s something that I’ll look at later in the week.

After putting two batters on in the top of the 7th Okajima came in and got Adam Kennedy to ground out to Pedroia.   One note here, with Beckett in line to pitch on Sunday against the Royals, he may not be available to pitch in the All Star game.

Final Score: Red Sox 5 A’s 2

Interesting note I heard from the Press Box:  Rob Bradford said “Asked if he had to deal Halladay, would J.P. Ricciardi hesitate shipping to an A.L East competitor, J.P. texted: “No.”  If the Yankees or Rays could make a move it would change the race in the AL East dramatically.  The Red Sox would most certainly have to block or try to block any attempt by teams in the AL East in hopes of having Ricciardi dealing Halladay outside the division.

Few other game notes:

Nomar was not in the Oakland A’s starting line up…Boston fans who missed him last night were disappointed he wasn’t in starting tonight. I talked to one of the usher’s I know and she said that she hadn’t seen a welcoming back like that in a while. Good to hear.

Papelbon earned his  21st save of the season pitching 0.2 innings, giving up one hit while getting 3K’s.  It was the 3rd time this season that Papelbon struck out 3 batters in an inning.

Red Sox Starters are now 4-2 with a 2.94 ERA, 49K’s and 10 walks in their last 11 games.

Boston logged it’s 50th win tonight, the 4th straight season the Red Sox have reached that mark prior to the All-Star Break.