"There's no issues physically at all," Beckett told Boston.com about skipping his penultimate start of the regular season. "I'm looking forward to going out there and doing what I'm supposed to do."
Was Beckett bothered by Francona's decision to start Lester in Game 1? Not at all. When asked if he had trouble "digesting" the decision, Beckett was frank, as usual.
"There was no digestion," he said. "I don't make those decisions. That would be a great question for Tito, maybe."
During last year's postseason, an oblique strain hindered Beckett for series against the Angels and the Rays. This year, that's not the case. This year, it was just a case of Lester being Boston's most impressive starter down the stretch.
In Beckett's final start of the regular season, he allowed four runs in the first two innings of an eventual win against the Indians. It wasn't because of any physical discomfort, though — it was simply because he was rusty.
"He's ready to go [now]," Francona said of Beckett. "No problems. I think we handled it like we needed to. We needed to have him miss a start, knowing that he would be a little rusty, but I think we did the right thing."
