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Baseball Today: Wednesday, June 20

ACES: Curt Schilling said at the beginning of the season that he still wanted to be considered the ace of the Red Sox staff. It soon became obvious, however, that the title now belongs to Josh Beckett (AP Photo, right) . . . and never moreso than last night. One day after a disheartening defeat in which Schilling's skills, and his health, were called into question, Beckett overpowered the Braves for six innings -- leaving the game only after a 48-minute rain delay in the top of the seventh -- and led the Sox to a 4-0 victory. (projo.com) ''He was very dominant,'' said manager Terry Francona of Beckett, who improved to 10-1. ''He threw strikes and he kept his fastball down in the zone. That’s the Beckett we’ve seen all year.''

Beckett's view of his performance was more succinct: ''No horse-bleep pitches.'' (Boston Herald) He had help, especially from Coco Crisp, who continued his superlative defensive season with another spectacular catch in center field. (Boston Herald) ''That was the greatest catch I’ve ever had behind me,'' said Beckett. ''That’s about the third or fourth time I’ve told him that [this year]. I guess I’m going to have to go back and look at all of them and figure out which one actually is the greatest catch.''

IN OTHER NEWS . . . The MRI taken on Curt Schilling's shoulder showed no structural damage. (projo.com) The two sides will begin determining the proper course of action today. The news of Schilling's injury was first reported on this very blog at 4:30 p.m. yesterday; check back today for the latest.

'TOO MUCH BECKETT, PERIOD': That was Braves manager Bobby Cox' assessment of last night's game. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

THE NATION EMERGES VICTORIOUS: One day after praising their fans for standing up to the Boston invaders, the Braves, in the story above, admit that they're irked at feeling like visitors in their own park. (AJC's Dave O'Brien has taken to calling Turner Field ''the Southern Fens''.) ''It is frustrating, I'm not gonna lie,'' said Braves second baseman Kelly Johnson. ''You would like the home team to be the home team.''

TRUE FEELINGS: He was fairly restrained when talking to the Boston Herald on Monday, but Edgar Renteria let some bitterness towards the Red Sox shine through in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constution.

ON SECOND THOUGHT: The Red Sox have slipped to second in his MLB Power Rankings, but SI.com's John Donovan gives two reasons why the Red Sox ''aren't going to lose the AL East race in '07, no matter how well the Empire plays the rest of the season''.

REMEMBER WHEN? The Omaha World-Herald does a quick Q-and-A with Fred Lynn, most of which centers on his college days -- the hook: Omaha hosts the College World Series -- but some of which touches on his Red Sox career.

IN THE YEAR 2057 . . . Roger Clemens will still be calling the Yankees for a job. That's the basis of a short film by Massachusetts native Mike Barber (Metro West Daily News); take a look below:

BUT IN THE YEAR 2007 . . . he's getting ready for tonight's start at Coors Field. (New York Daily News)

DOESN'T SEEM SO BAD NOW, DOES IT?: There was plenty of angst in Red Sox Nation last week when Josh Fogg, who entered the game with a 1-5 record and an ERA over 5.00, shut down the Sox at Fenway Park and beat Curt Schilling. But last night -- at Coors Field, no less -- he did the same thing to Mike Mussina and the Yankees. (New York Post)

IS THAT ALL YOU GOT? When asked to comment on the Yankees' recent resurgence, George Steinbrenner said nothing. (New York Post) ''Maybe, like others,'' writes George King, ''he believes the resurgence is due more to the competition (White Sox, Pirates, Diamondbacks and Mets) than anything else.''

BY THE NUMBERS: The Yankees have given 21 starts so far this year to replacement-level starting pitchers. (mvn.com) Those pitchers have a combined ERA of 6.15.

MADE FOR EACH OTHER: FoxSports' Ken Rosenthal says the Yankees and Rangers are a perfect fit if Texas decides to trade Mark Teixeira. Teixeira, incidentally, won't return to action until after the All-Star break. (Dallas Morning News)

LET THE (SO-CALLED) SEARCH BEGIN: It's fairly obvious that Joe Girardi is the man the Orioles want as their new manager (Baltimore Sun), though Joe Torre warns Girardi to look before he leaps. (New York Daily News)

FORGOTTEN MAN: Back in Maryland, Sam Perlozzo is slowly coming to grips with his firing. (Baltimore Sun) He said he had yet to hear from any of his former players, and when asked if that surprised him, he replied: ''Yes, sir.''

ENOUGH, ALREADY: The players, in San Diego for a series with the Padres, seem fed up with the whole situation. (Baltimore Sun) Some, like Brian Roberts and Miguel Tejada, spoke fondly of Perlozzo; Kevin Millar, on the other hand, seemed pleased . . . which couldn't have surprised Seth Mnookin very much, something he's made clear again and again. (sethmnookin.com)

EVEN STEVEN: The Seattle Times' Jerry Brewer says the Mariners have 81-81 written all over them.

YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED A BIT: The Journal-Register's Jim Hawkins says RFK Stadium in Washington (above, AP Photo) was a dump when the Tigers last played there in 1971, and is still a dump today. (He returned this week when the Bengals had a game in Washington for the first time in 36 years.) Having been there myself, I can't say I disagree.

NOW THERE'S A MENTAL PICTURE FOR YOU: SFGate.com's Betting Fool says the Giants are baseball's version of an Oreo cookie left too long in milk: Soft and crumbling on the outside, useless goo on the inside. Again, having seen them last weekend, I can't disagree.

INJURY NEWS: The Marlins' worst nightmare came to life last night when Dontrelle Willis had to leave the game because of pain in his left forearm. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

AND MORE: Randy Johnson has a herniated disk in his lower back, same disk he had surgically repaired only eight months ago. (Arizona Republic)

AND STILL MORE: The Dodgers' Jason Schmidt will have his ailing shoulder looked at. (Los Angeles Daily News)

THE BREAKING POINT: Ozzie Guillen may have reached his in the White Sox' loss to the Marlins last night.

SOME MISTAKES YOU NEVER STOP PAYING FOR: Joe Posnanski says the Royals should have moved to the National League 10 years ago, when they had the chance. (Kansas City Star)

UNEVEN JUSTICE: The Cubs aren't happy with the suspensions handed down in the Derrek Lee/Chris Young fight. (Chicago Sun-Times)

WHISPERS: The Chocago Tribune is reporting a Jermaine Dye-and-Mark Buerhle-to-the-Mets-for-prospects rumor. Buehrle, however, doesn't want to leave the White Sox . . . Padres GM Kevin Towers calls an Adam Dunn-to-San Diego rumor ''not worth chasing'' (cincinnati.com)

LOCALLY: With Brad Lidge on the disabled list because of a strained oblique muscle on his left side, Dan Wheeler is once again closing for the Astros. (mlb.com) He'd lost the job back to Lidge on June 8.

OLD FRIENDS: Johnny Damon may be headed to the disabled list for the first time in his career (New York Post) . . . Tomo Ohka has signed with the Cardinals (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . The Reds are thinking of giving the slumping Bronson Arroyo a couple of extra days' rest. His ERA has jumped from 2.64 to 5.24 (cincinnati.com) . . . Justin Duchscherer could start throwing off a mound soon (sfgate.com).

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:44 AM | Permalink