O’s chill Sox, 10-6

MLB. Red Sox righty Josh Beckett continues to search for his familiar ace rhythm, but larger concerns are mounting for Hideki Okajima.

Ultra-hot J.D. Drew and Manny Ramirez smacked back-to-back jacks in the fifth inning to bail Beckett out and give the Sox a one-run lead, but Oki and the Sox bullpen coughed it up and then some in a 10-6 loss to the O’s last night.

The Japanese lefty surrendered three runs while only recording one out in the seventh inning, and blew his fifth save of the season.

Drew’s bomb — which landed 15 rows deep in the right field bleachers — represented his fifth homer in nine games, and Ramirez’s blast followed a pre-game ceremony commemorating his 500th home run. The solo homer was the 505th of Ramirez’s accomplished hardball career, and allowed him to pass Eddie Murray for sole possession of 23rd place on the all-time home run list.

Beckett fought his way through the muggy proceedings, but clearly wasn’t brandishing his best stuff. The Texas heat-thrower battled for command of his normally knee-buckling curveball all night, and surrendered four runs and seven hits over six un-Beckett-like innings. The outing continued a season-long experience of being just a little bit off for Beckett, as his inflated ERA and home runs allowed totals from a year ago would attest.

Baltimore managed to load the bases against Beckett in the top of the second, and light-hitting shortstop Freddy Bynum rocketed a 96-mph heater off the Green Monster for a two-run, two-out double. Scrappy second baseman Brian Roberts added a two-run double of his own to give Baltimore a four-spot against Beckett — the fifth time this season that Beckett has allowed four or more runs in an outing this season.

Boston scratched for a single run in the first and two runs in the third to keep them in the ballgame, and things looked promising after the homers — until Okajima lost his bearings.