Beckett Comes Unhinged, Yankees Take Game 1

Well, that's not what we wanted to see.

After a great start to the game, striking out 6 of the first 10 men he faced, Josh Beckett started a horrendous collapse in the 4th inning, allowing a 3-run homer to Nick Swisher before absolutely imploding in the 6th. The highlights of that horrible 6-run inning include no extra base hits after a leadoff double (he would've moved to 2nd after the HBP anyways), but 2 bases loaded walks--one a first pitch HBP on Jeter.

The Red Sox offense was not particularly active tonight, as Phil Hughes held them to just 2 runs over 7 innings. The Sox had a lot of line outs to start the night, but really, when your starter gives up 9, it very rarely matters how the offense does. This one is entirely on Josh.

Game Notes:

• It was right around this time last year that Beckett started to turn things around. He'd better hurry up and get around to it in 2010 given that contract extension he signed.
• Jason Varitek left the ballgame after taking a fastball off his forearm. Whether this was just precautionary and because Tim Wakefield was going to take over on the mound is unknown.
• J.D. Drew, batting 3rd, was one of the few bright spots in the offense tonight, going 2-3 as he continues his comeback. Ditto Victor Martinez, who went 2-2 after replacing Varitek.