Josh Beckett allowed just six singles, claimed his fourth win of the season, left town with his lowest ERA of the season (3.70), and, to top things off, recorded his 1,000th career strikeout. Beckett benefited from another round of offensive firepower from the Red Sox lineup, which has scored five or more runs in seven straight games. The recollection of leaving 10 men on base, including two bases-loaded situations, was a distant memory thanks to the work done against Detroit starter Justin Verlander. The 2006 American League Rookie of the Year allowed a three-run second inning, keyed by Jason Varitek’s two-run single and finished off with a sacrifice fly from Jacoby Ellsbury. But the member of the Sox lineup who continued to make the biggest impression at Comerica was Kevin Youkilis. Kevin took a Verlander fastball over the left field wall with Ellsbury on and two outs in the fifth inning, making it 5-1. Youkilis’ fourth home run of the series was the eighth of his career at Comerica, six more than any other road park. Over the last six games he is batting .435 with four doubles, five homers and 12 RBI. The Red Sox finished the four-game set with nine homers.
Sox Notes: With the first quarter of the season nearly over, the Red Sox have started Coco Crisp and rookie Jacoby Ellsbury almost the same number of games in center field. Last night, Crisp made his 19th start in center field; Ellsbury has started 18 times. That might not have been the case if Crisp had not strained his right hamstring and missed eight games in mid-April; he’d started six of the previous seven games in center until he was hurt in Cleveland. The Red Sox had the same record (11-7) for each player when he started in center entering play last night. But there is a startling difference in production when Ellsbury has started in center. The Sox have scored 114 runs in Ellsbury’s starts, an average of 6.4 runs. They’ve scored 68 runs in Crisp’s starts, an average of 3.8 runs.
