Josh Beckett

In the middle game of a three game set between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards earlier this week, a rubber match was taking place between Boston's Josh Beckett and Baltimore's Jeremy Guthrie.

After an 0-6 start to the 2011 Major League Season, the Boston Red Sox have finally come around and are starting to play like the team most people thought they'd be: unstoppable.

Just 12 days ago, Daisuke Matsuzaka was booed off the mound by the hometown Boston crowd after allowing seven runs in just two innings of work, on Saturday night, Dice-K threw his second consecutive one hitter as the Red Sox blanked the Los Angeles Angeles 5-0.

The Red Sox consecutive-game streak was broken Thursday night, but the Red Sox got right back to work last night as staff ace Jon Lester started a new one.

No, obviously, I’m not talking about a winning streak because, as we all know, the Red Sox won on Thursday night. The streak I’m talking about has to do with the starting rotation.

I have made a decision: The 2011 major league baseball season began on April 8th.

I don't need to hear you tell me that I'm crazy, or stupid, or ugly, or a pervert; the voices in my head tell me that all the time (especially Paul; he's such a jerk!) This is not about logic, this is about survival. And we all know that the most important thing any organism can do, after eating deep-dish pizza, of course, is to survive. Don't argue with me, I didn't make the rules.

Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox seems to be pulling a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" act this spring.

Last night, he pitched fantastically, giving up just two hits and striking out 10 batters in eight scoreless innings as he led the Sox to a much-needed 4-0 win against the New York Yankees.

The Boston Red Sox needed a big performance from their pitching staff, and got one before a nationally televised audience Sunday night as they won their first series of the season, 2-1 over the New York Yankees.

Pitcher Josh Beckett was masterful, going eight innings, allowing two hits and striking out 10 batters. The win was the finest performance this season by any Red Sox pitcher.

On Wednesday, I wrote that it was too early to leap off the bandwagon of the 2011 Red Sox. I still believe that—however, alarm bells have started to ring as the 0-6 Sox limp home to Fenway Park to face their hated rival, the New York Yankees.

The vaunted offense of the Sox has disappeared over the last four games.

The "Texas Red Sox Massacre" of this past weekend was not the opening series that Red Sox fans had dreamed about since December. Buchholz surrendered almost half as many home runs as he did all of last season, Lester made it clear that he knows which month this is and Lackey's ERA is now sitting just north of 22. The bullpen wasn't much better, as every reliever pitched and only Reyes, Albers, and Jenks failed to surrender a run. Still, serious concerns at this point are unnecessary- the team is bound to win at least a game before the season is out.

When Josh Beckett was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 2006, it was assumed he would be an Cy Young candidate and an ace for years to come. He was 25, an absolute hoss, and seemingly the reincarnation of Roger Clemens: a hard-throwing intimidator and strikeout king without fear.

When Josh Beckett joined the Red Sox in 2006, he became an instant ace, anchoring the front-end of the Boston rotation, which at the time, was beginning to look a bit long in the tooth, thanks to the soon-to-be-retired Curt Schilling.