Sox get creative while Beckett does his thing

RED SOX 4, Braves 1 ATLANTA - As if dealing with Josh Beckett on one of his patented runs wasn't enough, the Atlanta Braves were also up against a Red Sox team on a roll last night. The Sox managed just four runs off young starter Jair Jurrjens, but were creative in their accounting. The Sox used the long ball, an infield double, two balks, passed ball, a sacrifice bunt and a groundout to create a 4-1 win, getting high marks for efficiency. ``Whatever gives us a chance to win,'' said David Ortiz, who slugged his eighth homer in the fifth to stake Beckett to a 1-0 lead. ``When a team is playing good, you can't be making many mistakes out there because we'll take advantage of it. I've seen that a lot. That's how the games go.'' The Sox have now won 12-of-16, and after sputtering on the road earlier this season are 9-2 in their last 11 games away from Fenway Park. For last night's win, they used every trick in their arsenal. The homer by Ortiz was his third in the last four games and seventh this month, one more sign that he has put the first two months behind him and re-discovered his stroke at the plate. ``Logical? Probably not,'' said manager Terry Francona of Ortiz' resurgence. ``That's what makes this game kind of crazy. He was kind of lost for a while and thankfully, now he's kind of found himself. That's good for us.'' Building on their lead, the Sox took advantage of a strange hop on a chopper by Dustin Pedroia, which flattened out on Atlanta shortstop Diory Hernandez. When the ball dribbled onto the outfield grass, Pedroia alertly took off for second, putting himself in scoring position to start the sixth. Jurrjens then committed his first of two balks, sending Pedroia to third from where J.D. Drew hit a roller to the right side for a 2-0 lead. In the eighth, after Pedroia singled home Nick Green, he again got Jurrjens to balk him to third, then scored on catcher David Ross' passed ball. However the runs scored, they were more than enough to support Beckett (9-3), who has won seven of his last eight decisions, losing just once since the end of April. He wasn't as dominant against the Braves as he was a week ago when he tossed a tidy complete-game shutout, but he was plenty good enough in seven scoreless innings (six hits, six strikeouts, no walks). Beckett improved to 6-0 with a 0.38 ERA in his last seven starts against Atlanta. ``Josh threw the ball well,'' said catcher Jason Varitek. ``He had to pitch out of a little more trouble today (compared to last weekend) but he kept us in the game and we were able to plug away. All through spring, Josh was trying to find himself mechanically. When he throws through me and his mechanics are sound, we can get a good mix of his off-speed pitches to complement his fastball.'' Felled by a stomach bug, Beckett was through after seven innings, missing out on the chance to become the first Red Sox pitcher in 45 years to shut out the same team in consecutive starts. Hideki Okajima recovered from a shaky start to the eighth by fanning the Braves' 3-4-5 hitters and Jonathan Papelbon weathered a solo homer by Ross to nail down the win in the ninth. - smcadam@bostonherald.com