TORONTO — Boston Red Sox right-hander Josh Beckett has a sprained right ankle and will miss his next scheduled start.

Beckett left in the fourth inning of Monday’s start at Toronto after experiencing pain in his ankle on consecutive pitches. He flew back to Boston on Tuesday to be examined by a specialist.

Red Sox medical director Dr. Tom Gill said in a statement that Beckett’s “examination was consistent with an ankle sprain,” adding that an MRI revealed no damage to Beckett’s ankle tendons or his Achilles’ tendon.

He will be re-evaluated later this week.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said Beckett will miss his start Sunday at Tampa Bay. John Lackey will pitch Friday in place of Erik Bedard (left knee), Kyle Weiland will go Saturday and Jon Lester will pitch Sunday.

An All-Star for the third time this season, Beckett is 12-5 in 27 starts. His 2.49 ERA is tied with Los Angeles Angels right-hander Jered Weaver for second-lowest in the AL, behind Detroit’s Justin Verlander (2.34).

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

TORONTO — Boston Red Sox starter Josh Beckett left Monday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays in the bottom of the fourth inning with a sprained right ankle, the team announced.

Beckett, who had pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts before the injury, appeared to have caught the foot on the area just in front of the pitching rubber when delivering a pitch to Blue Jays rookie Brett Lawrie.

Manager Terry Francona and a Red Sox trainer visited the mound immediately after the pitch and the call was made to remove Beckett, who was replaced by Alfredo Aceves.

Beckett entered the game with a 2.53 ERA and a 12-5 record.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — From the moment Josh Beckett stepped on the mound Thursday night, something didn’t feel quite right. It wasn’t something mechanical in his delivery, though, nor was it something physical.Turns out it was the mound itself.The one in the bullpen at Kauffman Stadium is far steeper than the actual mound on the field, Beckett said, so it took him a while to get comfortable. He finally did and lasted seven innings, leading the Boston Red Sox to a much-needed 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals.”I had to make sure I stayed on the rubber, you know?” Beckett said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever thrown somewhere where they have as drastically different bullpen from the mound.”Beckett (10-5) allowed all three runs over the first three innings, on a two-run homer by Alex Gordon and a sacrifice fly by Billy Butler. But he was efficient and effective after that, allowing seven hits while improving to 7-1 in his career against the Royals. The only loss was July 28 in Boston.”He left a breaking ball up to Gordon, but I mean they got a good lineup. They got a good offensive lineup. They’re aggressive,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “He got us through seven with the lead.”Dustin Pedroia drove in three runs with a pair of well-timed singles, and Jason Varitek drove in the other run for the Red Sox, who had lost five of their last seven games after getting shut out by the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday. It was an important win to keep pace with the New York Yankees in the AL East.Daniel Bard worked the eighth for Boston, and Jonathan Papelbon made it through a perfect ninth to extend his career-best streak to 24 consecutive saves. It was his 29th of the season.”Their lineup is dangerous,” Francona said. “You make a mistake and they can hurt you.”Luke Hochevar (8-10) labored through 114 pitches in just six innings for the Royals. The former No. 1 overall draft pick allowed all four runs on eight hits and two walks, despite getting some help from his defense.The Royals threw out three Red Sox base runners: Varitek was nabbed at second trying to stretch a single in the second inning; Crawford was thrown out by center fielder Melky Cabrera trying to score from third base on a shallow flyball in the fourth; and Pedroia was thrown out at second base by catcher Salvador Perez, who made an alert play after a late throw to the plate on Pedroia’s RBI single in the fifth.”Every pitch he got hurt on was actually a good pitch,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of his starting pitcher. “You go back in your mind and look at the game. We competed very, very well. We just got beat.”It wasn’t anything where a pitcher hung a pitch or made a terrible pitch or made a mistake,” Yost said. “We had three more outfield assists. It was a really good game that we got beat.”Butler gave the Royals a brief lead with his sacrifice fly in the first, but Boston answered right back on Varitek’s two-out single in the second. The Red Sox then pulled ahead in the third when Mike Aviles singled against his former team, Ellsbury walked, both advanced on a groundout and scored on Pedroia’s single.Alcides Escobar led off the bottom half of the third with a single, and Gordon followed by slapping a pitch from Beckett over the left-field wall to tie the game. His 16th homer matched a career high.”He just crushed that ball to left field,” Yost said. “That takes a man-sized boat to get it out, especially from a left-handed hitter, but he got every bit of it.”The Red Sox nearly pulled ahead in the fourth when Crawford reached on a single, swiped second base and then stole third — replays showed he should have been called out. Aviles lofted a flyball to center moments later, and Cabrera caught it on a jog and unloaded toward home in one motion. Perez fielded the throw on the fly, turned and braced himself as Crawford barreled into him at the plate, holding on for the out.It was the 21st time a Royals outfielder has thrown out someone at the plate, leading the major leagues.Undaunted, the Red Sox pulled ahead in the fifth. Jed Lowrie doubled with one out and came around to score on a two-out single by Pedroia, who added a double in the eighth inning for a three-hit game.”He was a nemesis. He hit the ball where it’s pitched,” Hochevar said. “The base hit up the middle that scored two runs I was trying to come in off the plate for a ball and I felt like it was off the plate. He put a good swing on it. He had a good piece of hitting.”

“That was a great ballgame,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “Felix did a great job.”

All nine runs were scored in just two half innings, five by the Mariners in the first off Josh Beckett (9-5) and four by the Red Sox in the sixth.

Hernandez (11-10), who allowed nine hits and four runs to win for the third time in his last four decisions, struggled in the sixth as Jacoby Ellsbury hit his 20th home run — a two-run shot — to become the sixth Red Sox player to have at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases (he has 31) in a season. It’s been accomplished seven times, the last time by Nomar Garciaparra in 1997.

Dustin Pedroia hit another two-run shot in the inning, his 16th, to pull the Sox within one.

“The difference was the way (Felix) came back the next inning,” Wedge said.

Hernandez pitched a hitless seventh.

Jamey Wright worked a scoreless eighth, although he gave up a shot to Ortiz down the right-field line that missed being a home run by less than a yard.

Brandon League worked the ninth to pick up his 28th save in 32 opportunities.

The victory ended the Mariners’ five-game losing streak against the Red Sox, whose lead in the AL East was trimmed to one game over the New York Yankees.

Ichiro Suzuki began the five-run first with a leadoff home run, the 34th leadoff home run of his career. Mike Carp had a two-run single, extending his hitting streak to 13 games and Casper Wells had a two-run home run.

Beckett, who has not won since July 23, went six innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out six.

In his previous 22 starts, Beckett had allowed five runs combined. It was the most runs he had allowed in the first since Aug. 17, 2008, when he gave up six to Tampa Bay.

“Left pitches up. They got hit,” Beckett said. “It’s tough when you are facing a guy like that (Hernandez). The game could have been very easily over before the second inning ever began.”

Beckett threw 34 first-inning pitches to eight batters. Over the next three innings, he would throw 34 pitches to nine batters.

The Sox had their chance to score what turned out to be an important run in a messy fourth inning. Ellsbury reached on the swinging bunt down the third-base line, the first hit Hernandez allowed. He advanced to second on an error by Carp during a pickoff attempt.

Carl Crawford bounced a ball over the mound and Hernandez couldn’t field it cleanly, putting runners on first and third.

Adrian Gonzalez bounced to Carp, who made a sliding stop, then turned and flipped to Hernandez covering first. But Ellsbury remained at third.

“I was surprised,” Hernandez said. “I was like, ‘he’s still at third? That’s good.’”

Ellsbury said, “you want to see it through (the infield) or be 100 percent sure that you can get there. It was a chopper. I broke hard but once I saw him coming in, he either has a play at the plate for me but he went to first. We elected to stay at third with two more shots.”

Dustin Pedroia pulled Boston within one with a solo homer in the eighth, extending his hitting streak to 25 games, but that was all the offense the Red Sox could come up with after beating the Royals 13-9 and 12-5 in the previous two games.

“They were one better than us today,” said Pedroia, who has reached base in 37 straight games.

Billy Butler hit a three-run homer as Kansas City scored four in the fourth and Hochevar pitched seven strong innings to clinch a 2-2 series split for the Royals against the team with the best record in the American League.

Boston, which had to rally after falling behind in the last two games, took a 2-0 lead in the third, but the Royals came right back against starter Josh Beckett (9-4) in the fourth. Beckett walked Alex Gordon and Mitch Maier, then Butler blasted a 1-2 pitch over the wall in straightaway center.

“Your team scores two runs and then you walk the first two guys. That’s pretty frustrating,” Beckett said.

Hochevar (7-8) allowed two runs on six hits and a walk while matching his season high for strikeouts with six. He retired 14 of the last 16 batters he faced and gave up just one extra-base hit, a third-inning double by Yamaico Navarro.

Hochevar left with a 4-2 lead, and Pedroia led off the eighth with a high home run over the Green Monster on a 3-2 pitch from Greg Holland. But Holland got Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz on groundouts to end the inning, and Joakim Soria came on to pitch the ninth.

With one out, Drew Sutton lined a hit off Soria’s glove for a single, then pinch-hitter Carl Crawford hit a long fly ball that turned right-fielder Jeff Francoeur around before he made a basket catch on the warning track.

“I was getting up to celebrate,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “I thought he got plenty, then the wind knocked it down.”

Soria struck out Navarro to earn his 19th save.

Beckett lost for the first time in a month, giving up four runs — three earned — on five hits and three walks while striking out eight. The Red Sox had won six of their last seven games to move to a season-high three games ahead of the second-place New York Yankees in the AL East before Thursday’s loss.

Boston took a 2-0 lead in the third when Jason Varitek singled, Navarro doubled and they both scored on a single by Jacoby Ellsbury. But the Royals went ahead in the fourth when Beckett gave up back-to-back walks to start the inning and Butler followed with his 10th homer of the season. After Francoeur reached on a two-base error, Beckett gave up Mike Moustakas’ RBI double to make it 4-2.

Pedroia led off the eighth inning with his homer over the Green Monster to cut the lead to one run. Fans knew Pedroia’s hitting streak was on the line when he came up after going hitless in his first three at-bats and cheered him on before the towering homer. The cheers got louder when the ball left the park.

Francona said streaks aren’t a topic that comes up in the dugout often, but credited the Boston fans for knowing what is going on throughout the lineup.

“We don’t need to have president races or mustard racing ketchup. Our fans like our baseball and I actually really think that’s cool,” Francona said. “Nothing against mustard.”

Notes: Pedroia’s hitting streak is the longest in the American league this season, 11th longest in team history and longest ever for a Red Sox second baseman. … Royals rookie Eric Hosmer extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single to lead off the second. … The Red Sox went without a hit from Gonzalez’s single in the third until Drew Sutton led off the seventh with a blooper to center.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CBSSports.com wire reports
July 23, 2011

BOSTON — Boston Red Sox right-hander Josh Beckett was finished with another strong outing and then he watched Daniel Bard put on his own performance.

Bard, who came in after Beckett went seven solid innings, loaded the bases with no outs before retiring the next three batters in Boston’s 3-1 win over Seattle on Saturday night, sending the Mariners to a club-worst 14th consecutive loss.

“That was pretty impressive what Daniel did out there,” Beckett said. “I think he was trying to prove something to himself.”

It’s a formula that’s worked well for Red Sox manager Terry Francona this season: Get the lead after seven innings and turn it over to Bard and closer Jonathan Papelbon.

“He got himself into a bind and got himself right out of it,” said Francona, who earned his 1,000th career win as a major-league manager. “Not many guys can do that.”

Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 23rd save in 24 chances, improving Boston’s record to 53-2 when it leads after seven innings and 54-0 when it holds an edge after eight.

Bard increased his scoreless innings streak to 24 over 23 outings, the longest active shutout streak in the majors.

But it didn’t happen before he put himself in a rough spot.

“I’ve been fortunate. I haven’t had a lot of long innings and a lot of jams and guys past first base,” he said. “To go out and do that and get through a tough one, I was happy about it.”

Dustin Ackley began the inning with a single and took second on a walk to Justin Smoak. Adam Kennedy then bunted, and Bard fielded it and threw to third baseman Kevin Youkilis, whose foot was off the base. Then Bard retired Mike Carp on a shallow fly to left, Jack Cust on a strikeout and Franklin Gutierrez on a groundout.

Papelbon came in and closed it out, allowing only a leadoff single to pinch hitter Miguel Olivo. He fanned Ackley to end it.

Francona became the 57th manager to reach 1,000 wins — the eighth still active. Boston moved a season-high three games ahead of the New York Yankees for the lead in the AL East.

Jacoby Ellsbury’s two-run single highlighted a three-run seventh for Boston, which won for the sixth time in seven games.

Seattle’s 14 straight losses matches a stretch from September 1992.

Beckett (9-3) allowed seven hits and one walk and struck out seven. The only run he allowed came on a homer in the seventh by Carp, his second in two nights since being recalled from Triple-A Tacoma last Monday.

Seattle starter Blake Beavan (1-2) retired the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh then allowed three straight hits, including the single by Ellsbury, who scored on a wild pitch by reliever Aaron Laffey.

Both teams had five hits through six innings. The Mariners had left four runners in scoring position through six innings before Carp’s homer.

Cust was stranded at second after a two-out double in the second. Smoak also was left at second in the fourth after grounding into a forceout and advancing on a wild pitch by Beckett. And Seattle stranded runners at second and third in the sixth after the first two batters, Ichiro Suzuki and Brendan Ryan, singled.

The Red Sox got a one-out double in the first from Dustin Pedroia, but the next two batters struck out. The hit extended Pedroia’s career-best hitting streak to 20 games.

Boston nearly scored in the second when David Ortiz led off with a double and took third on a single by Carl Crawford. Josh Reddick popped out to second base before Jason Varitek hit a flyball to center field. Gutierrez made the catch, then threw home on a fly to double up Ortiz, who had tagged.

The Red Sox got another runner to third in the third. Ellsbury started the inning with a single and kept going to second when the ball got by left fielder Carp for his second error in two days. Ellsbury took third on a groundout, but was stranded when Adrian Gonzalez flied out.

Gonzalez got a one-out double in the sixth, but was tagged out when Youkilis grounded to third.

Notes

• Pedroia has reached base in 32 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors.
• Carp had been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on July 3 when Beavan was called up.
• Former Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell, who retired after last season, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
• Beckett has allowed more than three runs just twice in his 19 starts this season.
• Beavan has allowed a total of nine runs in his four starts.