There’s a whole lot to be said about a safe place or a person whom you rely on to guide you or stear you through the right path to victory and salvation. That was taken away from our Ace Josh Beckett a couple of hours before gametime on Tuesday when he was to save the team and bring home a much needed W. The end result of last night’s game in Toronto was 10-9 Red Sox….but it was not an easy win to say the least!

From the start, our un-phaseable Beckett was not quite himself. His timing not quite right, or missing his spots, or Martinez not knowing his intricasies. It seemed Josh was not pleased with the results, and after allowing a steady stream of hits, was removed from the game a bit soon. If that happened to only ONE pitcher last night, it could be chaulked-up to being just an bad day….but our closer Jonathan Papelbon was also visibly shakey on the mound last night. Pap loaded the bases in the 8th, allowing 2 runs, and too many hits and close-calls in the 9th. Why would our prized stallions both be so unlike themselves ? What was missing from last night’s game ? Who ?

Jason Varitek’s name was scratched from last night’s roster because of a neck issue. The man has played about 75% of the season’s games so far and needed a day to heal. Not having him as their backstop removed their “Comfort Zone”. They could not even look to Farrell in the dugout for support, because he was absent from the park.

The hits came, from both sides. It was an exciting game with constant hits, and some of our bats were hotter than usual for a summer evening. In the end, Youkilis caught a pop-up to end the game for Pap, and put us up by 1/2 a game in the Wild Card Race.

Mr. Beckett, Mr. Lester, and Mr. Papelbon have a COMFORT ZONE in Mr. Varitek, and that should NOT be messed with. Every game counts now.

*Yankees won to the A’s and are still 7 games up on us, and Buchholz is pitching tonight against Halladay !*   Cross your fingers…   

- fenway fruitgirl