BOSTON -- Josh Beckett was taken out by manager Terry Francona last night, but this was not for curtain-call reasons, a la Curt Schilling from the previous night.

Schilling was given a rousing ovation after a sterling seven-inning outing.

Beckett, though, trudged off the mound, head down, having just been tagged for a two-out, three-run homer by Rhode Island's Rocco Baldelli in the seventh that gave the Tampa Bay Devil Rays an 8-0 lead en route to an 11-0 romp at Fenway Park.

The right-hander ended his season with a career high in wins (16), but he hardly had the dominating type of season that the Red Sox were expecting when they dispatched promising youngsters Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez to the Marlins for him over the winter.

Beckett, who surrendered eight earned runs in 6 2/3 innings last night, also ended the year with a career high in losses (11), not to mention a career high in homers allowed (36, tied for the league lead). His previous high was only 16.

And his earned-run average soared from 4.88 to 5.01 as Baldelli's drive settled into the first row of Monster seats in left-center, a little to the left of the light tower next to the flag pole.

At least Beckett, 26, managed to stay off the disabled list. He had been on the DL nine times in four seasons with the Marlins. As a result, he established career highs in starts (33) and innings pitched (204 2/3).

Beckett actually pitched decently last night until the seventh. Through six innings, he had given up only two runs, on a homer by Greg Norton in the first. But he was cuffed for six runs on five hits in the decisive seventh, with the Rays then strafing Bryan Corey for three more runs, making it a nine-run explosion for Tampa Bay.

Beckett, while unhappy with his performance last night, said he was able to find some positives in his first season with the Sox even though he admitted he was inconsistent.

"I threw 200 innings. That was a goal, personally, to show myself that I can do it," said Beckett. "I was mad coming out of the game. Curt came up to me and put (the season) in perspective. (Schilling said) I made every start and it's not a time to be mad. Obviously I'm not happy with the results tonight but you have to look at it as a whole."

No word on Clement

The Red Sox remained mum on the status of Matt Clement's right-shoulder surgery, hiding behind privacy laws, with general manager Theo Epstein saying that Clement still was groggy yesterday from Tuesday's surgery by orthopedist James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., and hadn't given the team permission to release any details.

The Boston Herald, though, reported that Clement had tears in both his labrum and rotator cuff, necessitating three separate procedures in what was supposed to be a simple exploratory arthroscopic procedure.

It's likely Clement will have to miss all of next year, when the 32-year-old is on the books for $9.5 million in the third year of a three-year, $25.5-million deal he signed as a free agent after the 2004 season.

Later last night, the Red Sox said a statement was released from Clement and his agent, Barry Axelrod, which said surgery had addressed ongoing issues with the pitcher's shoulder.

Pesky honored

Johnny Pesky's 87th birthday was observed in a pregame ceremony that included a cake and the official naming of the right-field foul pole as "Pesky's Pole," as it has been called in Red Sox lore for years.

Here and there

Baldelli boosted his homer total to 15 and his RBI total to 56 with his homer in the seventh, impressive numbers given the fact he has played in only 89 games. His 2-for-5 night raised his batting average to .305 (107 for 351) . . . The Sox lost six of their last nine games to Tampa Bay and ended the year with only a 10-9 advantage over the last-place Devil Rays, who are 61-97 for the season.

Manny Ramirez told Francona he could play, but the manager said he wasn't sure if it made sense for the left fielder to appear in any of the final three games given the fact he has made only one appearance (as a pinch hitter Sunday) since Sept. 9 . . . Alex Gonzalez left the team Tuesday night to attend to a family matter in Miami and Francona, fully supportive of the shortstop's decision to go home, said he wasn't sure if Gonzalez would be back for the season-ending series this weekend . . .

skrasner@projo.com / (401) 277-7340