Sox sock Indians

BOSTON – With the wind chill plunging well below 50 degrees, and Josh Beckett’s fastball peaking at 96 mph, the last place anyone wanted to be on a chilly Friday night was in the middle of Cleveland’s lineup.

C.C. Sabathia, the Indians’ supposed ace, also probably wished he were somewhere other than Fenway Park for Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

Beckett fell short of a third straight postseason shutout, but still whiffed seven in six innings and the Red Sox pounded Sabathia for eight runs en route to a 10-3 pasting of the Indians. Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell each had three RBIs and every Boston starter had at least one hit to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in this best-of-7 series.

“He gave us just what we needed,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of Beckett. “I don’t think struggle is the right word, but he had to kind of refine himself every inning. Once he did, once he got in the flow, he was very good.”

Beckett’s postseason streak of 18 scoreless innings, dating back to Game 6 of the 2003 World Series, ended when Travis Hafner ripped a two-out homer in the first inning. But that was really the only anxious moment for the sellout crowd of 36,986 as Beckett retired the next 10 by mixing a lethal fastball with a virtually untouchable curve.

“I’m just out there trying to execute pitches,” said Beckett, who allowed four hits and two runs but no walks. “There’s a lot of media and stuff that goes into this thing, and if you start buying into that, all it does is create distractions.”

Ramirez raised his career average to .609 (14 for 23) against Sabathia with his two singles and also walked twice with the bases loaded, the second time against Aaron Fultz.

Combined with David Ortiz, the Red Sox’s Nos. 3 and 4 hitters went 4 for 4 with five walks, a hit batsman, three RBIs and four runs scored. Ortiz raised his playoff average this October to .778 (7 for 9) with eight walks.

“We are professional hitters,” Ortiz said. “We know what we’re doing. We work out every day. We have an approach. I don’t think it’s new for you guys to watch me and Manny hitting. We keep it simple. That’s how it is.”

Boston rocked Sabathia for seven hits and eight runs in 4 1/3 innings. He walked five.

“He didn’t have it tonight,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said.

“His command was off. He just never really got in sync. When you’re facing a team like Boston, they’re going to come in. They’re not going to chase. It was just one of those nights where C.C. just wasn’t able to get on track.”