BOSTON — The record has been OK, and the earned-run average not bad.

It’s just that Josh Beckett has set the bar very high for himself. It’s expected that, coming off a dominant 20-win regular season and an unbelievably dominant postseason in 2007, Beckett would be similarly dominant again this season at the still youthful age of 28.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened.

There have been flashes of that brilliance this year, but there have been too many outings that, while not as bad as yesterday’s disaster, have been so mediocre as to invite some serious head-scratching.

Is he hurt? Has he never recovered from the back and hip ailments that plagued him in spring training and caused him to open the season on the disabled list? Is it simply a case of messed-up mechanics?

The Sox, certainly, won’t address any medical issues, so that part of the equation will remain a mystery for the time being.

The fact of the matter is, though, that his pitches all too often have no snap.

Yesterday, Beckett was tagged for eight runs on eight hits in only 2 1/3 innings.

His fastball was in the 95-97 mph range, which is good zip, but it had absolutely no movement. Virtually all big-league hitters can mash a straight fastball, no matter the speed.

Beckett’s curveball had no downward motion. His hangers were hit hard, including a two-out, two-run double by number nine hitter John McDonald that capped a six-run outburst in the first inning and an 0-and-2 RBI double by Lyle Overbay that sent Beckett to the showers in the third.

And his other pitches weren’t any better. He tried a few cutters, but Adam Lind turned on a 93-mph cutter and drilled it deep into the seats in the right-field corner. His changeup, meanwhile, came in at 90-91 mph, hardly enough differential from his fastball to make it effective.

It was an embarrassing and frustrating outing for Beckett (11-9, 4.34) in a season full of so-so starts by the supposed ace of the staff.

Slow pace didn’t help

The Red Sox played crisp defense behind Paul Byrd on Saturday night, partially a result of him working so quickly and throwing strikes. The fielders were on their toes.

Not so with Beckett in the first inning.

And that slow pace may have contributed to two extra runs for the Jays in their six-run explosion.

With runners at first and second and one out, Brad Wilkerson hit a double-play grounder right at Gold Glove first baseman Kevin Youkilis. It was Beckett’s 25th pitch of the inning, and Youkilis had already been standing with his teammates in the hot sun for 16 minutes when Wilkerson made contact.

Maybe those factors had nothing to do with anything, but the normally sure-handed Youkilis bobbled the ball, having to settle for just the out at first base, and McDonald made good use of the extra out by slamming a two-run double to left-center.

Costly mistake

Veteran J.D. Drew was guilty of an egregious baserunning mistake in the second inning, short-circuiting a budding Red Sox rally.

Boston was trailing, 6-0, but had runners at first and second with one out. Drew was running at second. Alex Cora laced a liner to center. Drew, thinking the ball would drop, took off for third. He miscalculated. Center fielder Vernon Wells came charging in and made a sliding catch, about knee-high.

Wells quickly got to his feet and threw to second, easily beating the retreating Drew for an inning-ending double play.

Drew left the game in the top of the fourth because of tightness in his lower back.

First-inning oddity

Of the 36 pitches Beckett threw in the first inning, 14 of them were to Toronto leadoff batter Joe Inglett.

And in an inning when the Blue Jays scored six runs, Inglett was one of the few batters Beckett had success against. He fanned him in an eight-pitch struggle for the first out and retired him on a grounder on his sixth pitch in the second at-bat for bookend outs on the Toronto second baseman.

skrasner@projo.com