MIAMI – Josh Beckett was absolutely unhittable against eight of the nine Yankees last night, and he still suffered the loss. All three hits the Florida flamethrower allowed over 71/3 dominating frames were to Derek Jeter, who doubled and scored twice to put Beckett on the short end of a 6-1 victory by the Yankees.
Beckett survived a 39-minute rain delay in the fifth to last into the eighth, striking out 10 against three walks. But a fourth-inning Beckett semi-meltdown initiated by Jeter’s double into the left-field corner tied the game at 1-1, and Jeter chased the Marlins’ righty with a double down the right-field line in the eighth.
The Yankee captain scored the go-ahead run when reliever Dontrelle Willis surrendered a two-out RBI single to Hideki Matsui. It was 2-1 until the ninth, when the Yankees erupted for four runs.
In the fourth, the entire Beckett experience was on display as he walked in the tying run. The unhittable stuff, the lack of focus, the grit and infantile behavior all came pouring out of Beckett’s body, as if one inning was a microcosm of the 23-year-old’s career. Beckett, the second overall pick in 1999, has shown glimpse of greatness, but his career hasn’t taken off because of injuries, inconsistency and immaturity.
He was perfectly overpowering through the first three innings – whiffing Jeter on three pitches in the first – but he couldn’t beat back the Bombers in the fourth.
After overmatching the clueless Alfonso Soriano during a four-pitch strikeout, Beckett allowed Jeter’s two-bagger. It was the first hit Beckett surrendered to that point and the first baserunner the Yanks could manage, but Jeter soon had company.
Jason Giambi worked a full-count walk, taking a 3-and-2 curve that didn’t quite break enough into the strike zone for plate umpire Gary Darling’s liking.
The Florida bench began screaming in protest, but Bernie Williams partially saved Beckett by popping up the next pitch for the second out. Still, the Florida righty couldn’t put away the Yanks. Beckett plunked Matsui in the right foot on a 1-and-2 pitch to load the bases. Jorge Posada followed with another unforgettable October at-bat. He worked a full-count walk to plate Jeter after fouling off two two-strike pitches.
Beckett’s last offering was too low for Darling. After retiring Karim Garcia on a groundout, Beckett stalked off the mound and seemed to say something profane, either to the umpire Darling or to himself.