BOSTON - First the good news.

Physically, Josh Beckett says he's okay.

"I was fine. I wasn't concerned about [the oblique injury that prevented him from starting Game One] at all," he said.

Now for the rest of the story.

Beckett looked like anything but one of the premier postseason pitchers of all time. He had trouble finding the plate. He was painfully deliberate -- he was one of the main reasons the game lasted an ALDS-record 5 hours and 19 minutes. He was slow to cover first base twice. He was visited at the mound two times by pitching coach John Farrell and eight times by catcher Jason Varitek.

Most importantly, he couldn't protect an early 3-1 lead. When Terry Francona finally ended his night after five innings -- in which he'd allowed nine hits, walked four batters and threw 106 pitches -- the Red Sox trailed, 4-3. They got him off the hook by tying the game in the bottom of the fifth, but by the time it all ended, with the Sox losing in 11, there were plenty of questions about Beckett's health . . . and his performance.

But he said neither was a problem. He simply tipped his cap to the Angels.

"They're definitely a tough lineup," he said of Los Angeles. "You don't win 100 games without being a good team. It's always frustrating to lose, but we played a good game. We had opportunities, they had opportunities."

The outing was the shortest of Beckett's 10 career playoff starts and he's never given up nine hits in a playoff game.

Beckett wasn't himself from literally the first pitch he threw. Chone Figgins ripped that first pitch down the right-field line for a ground-rule double. After two strikeouts, Beckett walked Vladimir Guerrero and then was slow getting to first base on a grounder to Dustin Pedroia that Torii Hunter beat out for a single. With the bases loaded, Beckett walked Juan Rivera on five pitches to force in the game's first run. Beckett threw 30 pitches (14 strikes) in a top of the first that took 22 minutes to complete.

Beckett admitted to being distracted by Figgins, who took a huge lead off second. That prompted shortstop Jed Lowrie to continually duck in behind him in an attempt to keep him close to the base, and Beckett and catcher Jason Varitek had trouble with their signals as they worked to prevent Figgins from stealing them, leading to constant Varitek trips to the mound. "We just weren't on the same page," Varitek said afterwards.

Beckett said the turtle-like pace got him out of his rhythm, and the attempts to slow down Figgins were at the root of the problem.

"You want to control their running game. That had a lot to do with it," said Beckett.

The Angels also put two men on in the second after two men were out, but Beckett got out of trouble by retiring the hot-hitting Mark Teixeira on a grounder to third.

The Red Sox scored three gift runs in the bottom of the second when a pop fly to center by Jacoby Ellsbury fell in between center fielder Hunter and second baseman Howie Kendrick but Beckett couldn't hold the 3-1 lead.

Guerrero led off the third by ripping a double into the left-field corner. After getting two outs, Beckett hung a breaking ball that Mike Napoli crushed off the light tower in left for a two-run homer that tied the game, 3-3. The hit was the first of Napoli's career off Beckett.

Beckett threw 91 pitches through four innings but Terry Francona chose to stay with him for another inning. After striking out Juan Rivera to open the fifth, Beckett was taken deep for a second time by Napoli to give the Angels a 4-3 lead. Beckett ended his outing with a strikeout of Figgins.

The Sox crossed their fingers all week as Beckett appeared to respond well after an oblique injury to his right side nine days ago. They held him back from starting either Game One or Two in Anaheim and Beckett went out of his way on Saturday to proclaim himself ready for action. ``I'm fine," he said simply.

He reiterated that he had no physical problems after Sunday night's rocky start. But Red Sox fans have to feel a bit uneasy after not seeing the real Josh Beckett under the bright playoff lights for the first time in his career.