beckett struck out six in seven scoreless innings. top of the fifth, big papi, david ortiz, ace solo home run, his eighth of the season, seventh this month. the red sox go on to win by the final of 4-1. terry francona gets his 800th win as a big league major. red sox are 45-28, winning 11 of their last 14 against the braves. in his first 10 years starts against atlanta, josh beckett went 2-7. since then 6-0 in seven starts with an e.r.a. of .38. in fact, his two runs allowed over seven starts against the braves is the fewest in a seven-start span against atlanta in the modern era. that's since 1900. >> there were reports friday the warriors were going to trade stefan curry and a couple other players to the suns in return for amare stoudamire fire, but warriors coach don nelson says that's not going to happen. >> he wasn't drafted for somebody else. he is not going to be traded. we drafted him because we think he's a terrific player. and he's the kind of guy that we want. he fits right into our program of our green and growing young te

above theever boston was look to go shore up their starting rotation and they were able to get josh beckett away from the florida marlins and the marlins insisted they take mike luol. i'm sure the red sox all knees -- mike lowell. i'm sure the red sox all these years later were blad they -- glad they did. hanley ramirez hanley ramirez was their top prospal tekt and -- prospect and came to florida and he rips one down to second base for a double. down in the count and he's still able to extend the arms and pull -- pull it for a one- out double. >> buck: again, they are able to sit back and look breaking ball. there's the step. keeps his hands back. really drills it down the left- field line. melvin mora dives. timed it perfectly. it's just beyond his reach. hanley ramirez is having some series. >> jim: two hits tonight. he has a double, a single and an rbi. jorge cantu. aggressive swing. he fouled it back. >> buck: when you think of that trade that involved hanley ramirez, it was a pretty, aggressive trade for both teams. ramirez came down here with anibal -- anibal sanchez and garcia. he wa

we know how good a pitcher he is, but beckett against the graves the last 40 innings, he'a allowed two earned runs. that's domination of the highest order. and finally we'll watch the rays against the marlins. keep in mind, both of these teams are in contention again. the marlins have won five in a row only one game out of firstle place. hanley ramirez has really got it going. goi he had 13 r.b.i.s in his last series including two grand slams in one series.ra the last national league playere to hit two grand slams in the same series was robin ventura in 1999. he hit slams in both games of a doubleheader. >> we'll have all the highlights for you on the next "baseball tonight," 10:00 eastern on espn. >> thanks, fellas. the chicago baseball writers who hold hall of fame votes met today to discuss what to do about players tied to performance-enhancing drugs. six of the eight most prestigious sluggers in the steroid era have been directly tied to p.e.d.s -- bonds, mcgwire, sosa, a-rod and manny, leaving just ken griffey, jr., and jim thome unscathed. chris deluca is the national baseball co

the then president of the beckett fund for religious liberty, a washington, d.c. based public interest law firm protecting the free expression of all religious traditions wrote the following letter to care regarding the suit against the john doe passengers. this is a first for us, quote, we have never opposed someone else's claim for religious discrimination. but this tactic of threatening suit against ordinarier citizens is so far beyond the traditions of civil rights litigation in the united states that we must oppose it to defend the good name of religious liberty itself, end of quote. it is noteworthy that the beckett fund has successfully argued cases for muslims, including securing a place for muslim public school students in texas to pray. in march of 2007, the arizona republic called the suit against ordinary citizens, quote, intimidation by lawsuit. on april 9, 2007, the "san francisco chronicle" reported that care's ibrahim hooper had a different take. quote, it is wrong-headed for observers to be suspicious of innocent behavior. praying or asking for a

josh beckett has been on a roll for the last 7 starts.e did it again last night against a good yankees line-up. they had won 2 out of 3 against tampa and beckett shut them down. >> what about david ortiz if he hit a home run last night? he has had timely hits. does he feel like it's coming back? >> i think he is starting to feel that way. i am not sure i am ready to put him back to where he was a couple of years ago. ortiz is hiting much better than he has been. he has a 7 game hitting streak going right now. the ball he hit last night, the home run was not just another garden variety home run. this was a shot right off the bat. the press box new and the stadium knew it would be out, well over 400 feet. when ortiz is swinging with prisons, those already convict convicted, currently serving, like ramzi yousef? mr. mcconnell: i would say to my friend from i will, maybe we've -- from illinois, maybe we've found an area of agreement. is he critical of the bush administration for not conducting the military tribunals more rapidly. i agree with

and josh beckett polished a five-hitter against derek lowe of the braves. marco scutaro 0-for-3 with a sacrifice. now macdougal has mota not been closing for the nationals -- has not been closing for the nationals that long. so he is still fighting hard to keep that job. there are some closers you would not call them back. >> rob: no. the three-game win streak is big for somebody, but i still believe that you have to win every game you are out. this team is still 27 games under .500. you are not going to wear down your closer. when you are trying to fight and scratch and claw for every one right now, you may see another inning out macdougal -- no, just kidding. but you try to go as far as you can with your people. >> bob: 3-1. mike macdougal, 32 years of age. >> rob: he was let go by the chicago white sox and picked up by the nationals. you made a great point. every day, pitchers here are fighting for a job. >> bob: he walked him. scutaro is a running threat. 7 steals on 10 attempts. not impressive numbers but a good bat man with control after him in aaron

you gave up josh beckett, you gave up a mike lowell. if you look out there on the field who the best player is, it's a double-a kid named hanley ramirez that the bosm said we'll give up this talent for some pitching and a third baseman that nobody really wanted. he should be a great minor league prospect, that you can get and steal and be like a matt wieters or somebody like that, but possibly in the field. >> okay, have a pleasant evening. we'll see you guys tomorrow night. >> all right, guys. >> look forward to stammen tomorrow. >> thank you. as you look at this ball club now, what area would you go after to maybe solidify it, make it a better team? >> i think because flores is coming back, i would look at a shortstop that had more range than guzman. i just don't think that he's getting the balls up the middle that he should. you've got to have a centerfielder, willie harris is great, but on an ideal ball club, he's going to be a guy that's going to be a utility guy and shore up everything. if you could get a centerfielder that could

improprieties and folks like caroline flint and others, including the former defense secretary, margaret beckett, i believe, has had some issues and tax reimbursements. both cameron and gordon brown have had to come up and it has hurt him. >> this is what part -- record and brown said. "to be honest, i'm not interested in what companies being in power. i would worry if i never returned to those places, down the street, checkers, and it probably be good for my children." he went on to say that labour could win the next election. >> he has to say that last statement. it does not say that, he would be justified in getting a new leader. it is very hard to be at the tail end of a long issue like this. it is now brown after blair. the party is exhausted. there tends to be more corruption at the pet to a level. they have been in power too long. it is very hard to be a leader showing bigger to the nation at that point. der that shows vigor to the nation at that point. brown has played his hand remarkably badly, including that line about fighting on. obviously much less heroic in churchill. blundering ar