Varitek And Beckett Make Sweet Music Together

April 11, 2010 | The Providence Journal | By Dan Barbarisi



Photo by Kelly O'Connor.After spending some time apart, Josh Beckett and Jason Varitek were reunited tonight, and the pairing was just as sweet as they remembered.


Varitek coaxed Beckett to a seven inning, three-run outing, one that was largely smoother than that line indicates. It was a big improvement over Beckett's opening night performance, when he gave up five runs in 4.2 innings, pitching to catcher Victor Martinez.


Beckett and Varitek were batterymates from 2006 until midway through last year, when Martinez took over primary catching duties. Martinez clicked immediately with young pitchers Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester, and he's learned to catch Tim Wakefield's knuckler, but he and Beckett haven't gelled in the same way.


Beckett has a 7.71 ERA in four starts working with Martinez. He has a 3.77 ERA in 105 games with Varitek.


So when opportunity permits, Beckett and Varitek will likely be paired up.


Even though they haven't worked together much since Martinez arrived, they fell back into their old familiarity right away.


"I have an awareness of Josh, Josh has an awareness of me. Those things develop with time. Fortunately, I got to catch him two, three times, maybe 2-3 starts this spring. That was good. It's still about Josh, and he executed," Varitek said.


Most of the attention was paid to Varitek's offense tonight, with his two-homer display. Beckett said he was thrilled to see his batterymate do so well at the plate.


"He's got that C on his chest for a reason. He's one of our emotional leaders. To see him do well is important to all of us," Beckett said.


And as to whether they should work together full time?


"I don't make those decisions," Beckett said flatly.