With any luck, Boston Red Sox ace Josh Beckett will be his usual self at Fenway Park against the visiting Blue Jays Sunday (1:35 p.m. ET).
Toronto manager Cito Gaston also hopes outfielders Vernon Wells and Alex Rios play their typical games against the hard-throwing right-hander.
While Beckett could flash some impressive numbers in front of the Red Sox faithful — 11 wins and 142 strikeouts in 147 innings pitched — his performance at home this season probably has left many Bostonians shaking their heads.
A talent-laden offence has helped Beckett to five wins against three losses at Fenway, but it's his 5.03 earned-run average that stands out.
Also in the Blue Jays' favour is Beckett's 4.92 ERA in nine career meetings versus Toronto and 4.47 mark for the season in day games.
But when Beckett is in top form, which he was in shutting down the Chicago White Sox for eight innings in his last start (one run, eight strikeouts), he has a habit of taking his team along for the ride.
"I think he's got a lot left in the tank for whatever we have left," Boston manager Terry Francona told reporters after his team's 5-1 win on Aug. 11. "He looks strong. He's locating [his pitches]. He looks like he is primed to go ahead and be the guy we need. We needed every bit of what he did tonight."
And the Red Sox will need every bit as much Sunday with Minnesota and the White Sox breathing down their necks in the American League wild-card race.
While Boston was losing 4-1 to Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays on Saturday night, Chicago and Minnesota won their games to pull to within 1½ games of the Red Sox (71-52).
At Boston, Rios was the offensive catalyst, clubbing his ninth home run of the season and sixth triple against Red Sox starter and loser, Paul Byrd.
The right-fielder is equally as good against Beckett in his career, counting five hits in 16 at-bats for a .313 average. Rios is also a distraction to opponents on the basepaths, having stolen 30 bases in 37 attempts.
Shannon Stewart, who recently was sent packing by the team for a second time, is the last Blue Jay to reach 40 stolen bases in a season (1998) while Dave Collins holds the single-season franchise record with 50 in 1984.
"He's a green-light guy," said Gaston of Rios. "I have to tell him when not to go sometimes, but he's shown me that he's got pretty good judgment."
Wells, who has hit safely in eight of his past 10 starts, is hitting at a .333 career clip with five homers and eight runs batted in against Beckett.
Toronto's Shaun Marcum, who takes the mound Sunday in search of his third consecutive victory, would welcome that kind of production.
Marcum (7-5) beat Boston on April 4 with a strong seven-inning effort to run his undefeated streak against the Red Sox to four starts.
"I'm locating my fastball now and that makes things a little easier for me," said Marcum, whose .218 opponent batting average ranks fourth in the major leagues.
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