BOSTON – For Josh Beckett and the Boston Red Sox, getting jeered at Fenway Park has become par for the course.

Beckett did nothing to help restore his reputation Thursday night, getting booed off the field in the third inning of an 8-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

Additional Photos

Josh Beckett, already out of the fans’ good graces, allowed seven runs and seven hits in 2 1⁄3 innings Thursday night, and the Red Sox have now lost 8 of 9. The Associated Press

It was Boston’s 11th loss in its last 12 home games and happened to come a day after word surfaced that Beckett was playing golf last week, a day after he was scratched from his scheduled start with a sore lat muscle in his back.

That angered fans, who got in plenty of taunts before Beckett was pulled after 2 1/3 innings. Cleveland led, 7-1.

“I think it was directed at me,” Beckett said. “Smart fans.”

Beckett was unrepentant about his golf outing, saying what he does on his day off is his business. But what he failed to understand, it seemed, was fans were upset about him golfing when he was supposedly too sore to pitch, rather than about him simply hitting the links on a normal off day.

Jack Hannahan hit a two-run homer and Jason Kipnis had a solo shot off Beckett (2-4), who gave up seven runs on seven hits and walked two.

“You never want to get booed at your home stadium,” said Indians left fielder Johnny Damon, a former Red Sox star. “He’s a great pitcher. Had a bad night. He helped bring another championship here, but as we all know that can get lost in time.”

Michael Brantley went 4 for 5 with two RBI for the Indians.

Derek Lowe (5-1) pitched six effective innings against his former team, allowing two runs and nine hits, with one walk and three strikeouts. He was as solid as he needed to be with the offense taking full advantage of Beckett’s struggles.

“He knows how to pitch with a lead,” Cleveland Manager Manny Acta said. “He had a lot of traffic throughout his outing, but he always seemed to make that pitch when he had to.”

Dustin Pedroia extended his hitting streak to 11 with a leadoff homer in the seventh, cutting Cleveland’s lead to 7-3. But that did little to lift the mood at Fenway Park. Boston, last in the AL East at 12-19, has dropped 8 of 9 overall.

Beckett, who has a 5.97 ERA, was booed just hours after Manager Bobby Valentine downplayed the uproar over the golf outing.

In his postgame interview, Beckett grew more terse each time his golf outing was mentioned.

“We get 18 off days a year,” he said. “I think we deserve a little bit of time to ourselves.”

It’s not the first time Beckett’s off-the-field decisions and commitment have been questioned.

After last season, it was revealed he was among a group of pitchers who ate fried chicken and drank beer in the clubhouse during games on days they didn’t pitch.

The first homer was Hannahan’s two-run shot into the Boston bullpen.

It got worse in the fourth when Kipnis led off with a homer, Asdrubal Cabrera singled and Travis Hafner walked.

Beckett got a mock cheer when Carlos Santana flied out for the first out of the inning, but the boos came right back when Shin-Soo Choo followed with a double.

Brantley was up next and one fan yelled “FORE!” when he lined a foul ball down the right-field line, but the chuckles subsided when Brantley doubled to left-center. It was the second straight double for the Indians, ending Beckett’s night.

Fans cheered when Valentine came out of the dugout and immediately signaled to the bullpen for Andrew Miller.

“It’s challenging every night,” Valentine said. “The guys are doing a great job, and I tip my cap to them and the offense. We were a bloop away from getting back into this game four different times.”

There wasn’t much to cheer for again until Pedroia came up with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth, but he popped out to second on the 41st pitch of the inning by Vinny Pestano.

Related Stories