Josh Beckett got his official welcome to Boston last night. It didn’t have anything to do with his performance on the field, however. Beckett was harangued by the media about a rumored blister on his finger thanks to a camera shot from NESN that showed Beckett and pitching coach Al Nipper.

“I’m pissed. I really am. This is (expletive) stupid. My dad calls me. He thinks I’m lying to him. That’s it. I’m done talking to you guys for the year.” ~ Beckett addressing Boston reporters.

Welcome to Boston, Josh.

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The Red Sox picked up a 6-5 win over Baltimore last night, their eighth win in their last 10 games and their 13th consecutive victory over the Orioles. The Sox showed some life on offense with home runs from Manny Ramirez and Trot Nixon (off a lefty no less), and a game-tying single from Mark Loretta and a go-ahead single from David Ortiz.

There was also good pitching out of the bullpen. Mike Timlin pitched two perfect innings and Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth for his fourteenth save in fourteen chances. Mike Holtz also came out of the pen in relief in the sixth inning with a runner on first and after walking the first batter, he retired Brandon Fahey on a grounder to end the inning.

With all that going for the Sox, why am I sitting her today feeling nervous as hell?

Here’s why: 5.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3 HR. The preceding stat line belongs to last night’s starter, Curt Schilling. It’s the second straight start where Schilling has allowed three home runs and he’s also allowed 11 ER on 17 H in those two starts (13.2 IP). The problem can be traced directly to his inability to consistently put hitters away. For example, let’s examine last night’s fifth inning, where he surrendered four runs on two two-run home runs.

With one out, Schilling faced Nick Markakis and got ahead of him 1-2. Markakis then proceeded to foul off three of the next four pitches (with a ball mixed in) before singling to center. Schilling then allowed a home run to the next batter, Fahey, on a 1-0 count. Two batters later, Schilling gets ahead of Miguel Tejada 0-2 before allowing a double to deep right field. Schilling gets ahead of the next batter, Jay Gibbons, 0-2 before throwing balls on three of the next four pitches (with a foul mixed in). Gibbons then deposited Schilling’s 3-2 offering (and seventh pitch of the at-bat) into the seats for a go-ahead, two-run homer.

In all, Schilling gets ahead of three batters with two-strike counts, does not put any of them away and all three batters came around to score. This is a big problem. He seems to be missing his locations consistently, and according to Baseball Prospectus’ Will Carroll, this might be attributed to some base instability which causes him to shorten his stride and therefore leave pitches up in the strike zone. If that is so, it’s a situation that needs to be monitored, because if David Wells comes back anything less than good and Schilling is indeed hurt, this could be a big problem for the Sox down the road this season.

Some Quick Hitters today, back with a full-length feature tomorrow.

Wily Mo Pena continues to impress as a hitter. He was 2-for-5 with a HR and 4 RBI yesterday. Both hits came to the opposite field and it would appear that Pena is working on being a more complete hitter, not content to just swing from the heels every time he gets up to the plate. He is spraying the ball to all fields, and while his strikeouts haven’t disappeared, he is no longer the all-or-nothing hitter of previous reputation.

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Quickly, name the hitters with the top three qualifying averages on the Red Sox.

Time’s up. If you answered Mike Lowell (.331), Trot Nixon (.316) and Kevin Youkilis (.313), pat yourself on the back. If you also said “Wily Mo Pena is hitting .321, but is currently 17 plate appearances shy of qualifying,” then, well, you’re right but a weirdo for knowing that off the top of your head.

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Frankly, I’m worried about what the reports coming out of Boston were in regards to Josh Beckett leaving last night’s game after seven brilliant innings and 80 pitches. Shots of the dugout on NESN clearly showed Beckett and pitching coach Al Nipper examining the middle finger on his pitching hand, the same finger that landed him on the disabled list numerous times while with the Florida Marlins. There seems to be a lot of misdirections being run by manager Terry Francona and members of the Red Sox that are speaking to the media. This management group has seemed to adopt a “circle the wagons” approach whenever something is afoot (injury, contract signing, etc), so the fact that there isn’t a clear answer being provided about Beckett is sufficient enough proof, in my opinion, that something is up with his finger.

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Tonight, Curt Schilling goes for win number 200 against the team the Red Sox traded him to in 1988, the Baltimore Orioles. Schilling will be looking to bounce back from a rough start against the Yankees last Wednesday, when allowed 6 ER on 8 H (3 HR) and 2 BB with 5 SO over 5.0 IP in Boston’s 7-3 loss against the Yankees. Schilling is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA in two starts against Baltimore this season.

Opposing him will be Bruce Chen, who will be looking for his first win of the season. He is currently 0-4 with an 8.42 ERA in seven games (six starts). He also has a WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) of 1.90 thus far. Against the Sox this season, Chen is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two games (one start).

Who to Watch
Mark Loretta - 11-for-24 in his last five games with 1 2B and 5 RBI. 20-for-50 (.400) in the month of May (11 games) with 4 2B and 6 RBI.
David Ortiz - Trying to shake an extended slump. Is 10-for-43 in the month of May (11 games), with seven of those hits coming in two games against New York. Outside of those two games, he is 3-for-35. The Sox haven’t had any trouble scoring runs against Baltimore this season, but if the Sox are to have extended offensive success this year, they will need Ortiz’s bat to heat up.