NEW YORK — Reputations are earned in October, not April, and frankly, Josh Beckett has already done enough in his last two postseasons to secure his standing as baseball’s best under-30 big-game pitcher.

But sometimes, aces are called upon during the season, too, and asked to win big games, asked to come forward when a team is in need.

Last night was such a night. It should come as little surprise that Josh Beckett was ready when called upon.

The Red Sox’ bullpen had been overused and abused the previous four nights. That three of those games resulted in Red Sox wins was secondary. Three weeks into the season, the pitching staff was wobbly, spent on both ends.

The last time through the Red Sox’ rotation, after Beckett’s last outing Saturday, only Tim Wakefield had been able to get past the fifth inning.

Thanks to the early exits from the starters, the bullpen had buckled from the workload. In Wednesday’s 15-9 thrashing by the Yankees, manager Terry Francona acknowledged that he had to stick with a clearly ineffective Julian Tavarez if only because he had no other options.

Enter Beckett. Exit trouble.

“Obviously,” said Beckett after he and the Red Sox had dispatched the Yankees, 7-5, “you think about (how much the bullpen has been worked). But the most important thing is executing pitches. If you start thinking about (lasting into the late innings) in the second inning, you’re going to be in trouble.”

Last night, the Sox’ No. 1 starter gave the team exactly what it needed: innings, and plenty of them. Eight quality ones, during which he allowed just three runs — all in the fifth inning.

By then, Beckett had plenty of margin for error, thanks to two homers from Manny Ramirez and a two-run single from J.D. Drew.

While the Red Sox were battering Mike Mussina, Beckett was turning back essentially the same lineup that bashed out 16 hits the night before.

He retired the first seven hitters of the night and helped restore a little order to Red Sox world.

“That’s kind of what you bank on your ace to be,” Terry Francona said. “He understands his responsibility and he’s good enough to carry it out.”

No more 53-minute half-innings, as the team experienced Wednesday.

No more matching runs like baskets — a dangerous proposition any night — particularly against a lineup as explosive as the Yankees’.

For a change, the Red Sox could go about their business at the plate, without worrying that they would have to out-mash the opponents.

As the Sox piled up the runs, Beckett kept poring through the lineup. He stumbled just once, when a walk and three straight two-out hits at the top of the Yankee order accounted for the three runs.

But it was a mere blip. The next inning, he retired the Yanks in order, then did it again in the seventh.

In the eighth, showing a strong final kick, he carved up the heart of the New York order — Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez — with two weak groundouts and a strikeout.

At 105 pitches, his night was over.

He delivered the game to Papelbon for the ninth, with no middle men necessary, no setup required.

The way it’s supposed to be with your ace on the mound.

“I think you guys get caught up in that stuff…number one, number five …we all need to do our jobs,” said Beckett. “Whatever number starter you are, you’ve got to go out and do your job. For me, it’s just about going out and doing your job.”

Of course, some do it better than others, and more consistently, too.

“He’s done that so much for us,” second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. “Sometimes you almost take that for granted.”

There was peace of mind even before the night began. Yesterday afternoon, the Sox exuded a quiet confidence, comforted by the knowledge that they had their lined up.

“That’s part of what being an ace is,” Francona said. “(The presence of an ace) doesn’t guarantee a win. But you rely on that trust, that confidence. He’s earned that.”

Early in the season or in October, regular season or during the World Series.

On a night when the Red Sox need him to save their season — as they did last fall in the ALCS — or a night when they just need him to straighten out a week in April.

Sometimes, being the ace isn’t a job you can wait until the fall to claim.

smcadam@projo.com