Red Sox manager Terry Francona pulls starting pitcher Josh Beckett in the sixth inning.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

BOSTON — Red Sox starter Josh Beckett suffered his third straight loss last night, dropping the erstwhile ace’s record to a mediocre 9-8.

And while he may have been a bit of a hard-luck loser in his previous two outings, including a 1-0 setback against the Yankees, the right-hander turned in a Beckett-and-Hyde performance in the Sox’ 9-2 loss to the red-hot Angels at Fenway Park.

Beckett made some outstanding pitches, especially early in the game, and finished with eight strikeouts. He was particularly tough on the Angels’ newly acquired slugger, Mark Teixeira.

He whiffed him, looking, on three pitches — changeup, curveball, fastball — with a runner at second and none out in a scoreless game in the fourth. And with runners at first and third with one out in the fifth, Beckett threw five pitches — all curveballs — in getting Teixeira ultimately to wave at strike three.

But Beckett also made some awful pitches, giving up 11 hits and eight runs, seven earned, in only 5 1/3 innings. Garret Anderson was especially effective against Beckett with first-pitch singles in the second and fourth (two-run hit) and then a two-run homer inside the right-field foul pole in the sixth as part of a five-run bulge that turned a 3-2 Angels lead into an 8-2 advantage.

Beckett has been tagged for a total of 29 hits in his last three starts, totaling 20 1/3 innings. He has now given up 134 hits in 132 1/3 innings. Beckett has never had a season in which he has given up more hits than innings pitched. After last night’s outing, his earned-run average jumped from 3.83 to 4.15.

Colon schedule

Francona got mixed up Tuesday when he was outlining the plans for injured pitcher Bartolo Colon. The corrected version of the right-hander’s timetable is that Colon threw a aide session yesterday and will throw another one Saturday, and if all goes well, the Red Sox will make a determination of where and when to send him on a rehab assignment,

Ellsbury batting ninth

Jacoby Ellsbury has been struggling and has been dropped from the leadoff spot to ninth in the batting order. He is batting a mere .223 (33-for-148) over his last 35 games, including a 4-for-15 log on the home stand.

So, with that in mind, and with the Angels starting a left-hander (Joe Saunders), Francona replaced Ellsbury with switch-hitting Coco Crisp in center field last night.

The move paid off in the fifth inning. Crisp crushed a two-run homer into the Monster seats in left-center. It was his sixth homer of the year and first since June 17. It also was his first of the season at Fenway. Crisp was in a 3-for-36 funk before going deep.

The hits keep coming

For the second consecutive night, the Sox’ Dustin Pedroia broke up a no-hitter. Last night’s hit, a double to left-center, wasn’t as dramatic as Tuesday night’s. Last night’s hit came with two outs in the third inning, snapping Saunders’ modest bid for a no-no. On Tuesday night, Pedroia ruined John Lackey’s date with immortality with one out in the ninth inning on a single through the left side.

Anderson’s deep play rapped

Anderson, the Angels’ left fielder, was criticized on TV on Monday night by ESPN announcers for playing too deep.

He plays on the grass only a few steps in front of the warning track, and the announcers said he should be playing in more to steal bloop hits because any ball over his head was going to hit off the wall anyway. In that game, a routine shallow fly hit by Mike Lowell fell in for a single on a ball that should have been a routine out.

But last night, because Anderson was playing so deep, he was able to take a step back and snag a sizzling liner hit by Manny Ramirez in a key play in the fourth. Had he been playing even two steps in, the ball would have been over his head for extra bases.

The Sox wound up with two hits in the inning but no runs, with Anderson able to move his creaky legs in far enough to haul in Jed Lowrie’s shallow high fly to left with runners at first and third and two outs and the Angels on top, 3-0.

skrasner@projo.com