Josh Beckett Dealing with consistency issues

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BOSTON — Josh Beckett insists he's healthy, despite his postseason struggles.

The Red Sox right-hander allowed eight runs in 4 1/3 innings Saturday night when the Tampa Bay Rays beat Boston 9-8 in 11 innings to even the ALCS at one game apiece.

"It came down to execution — pitch selection and execution," Beckett said before Boston's optional workout Sunday at Fenway Park. "I felt fine."

Beckett struggled in his last regular-season game, a 4-3 loss to Cleveland on Sept. 22 in which he allowed four runs in six innings and hit a career-high three batters with pitches.

A strain in his side pushed him back from starting the opener of the AL division series against the Angels to Game 3. He wasn't sharp then either, allowing four runs in five innings in the Angels' only win of the series, 5-4 in 12 innings.

"He's fine," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He's certainly battling some consistency issues, and I think some of that is having some of your starts interrupted and then having the oblique (strain) a couple of weeks ago. You know, it's been a battle for him."

On Saturday night, the Red Sox gave him three leads and he lost every one.

"That's frustrating," Beckett said. "You score eight runs and you couldn't come out of there with a win. I don't expect that of myself."

Dodgers reliever Scott Proctor, who hasn't participated in the postseason, is scheduled to undergo surgery on his pitching elbow Wednesday.

The team said the 31-year-old right-hander has a partially torn flexor tendon, which will be repaired, and a spur in the back of his elbow that will be shaved down. Proctor is expected to be recovered by spring training.

Proctor, 2-0 with a 6.05 ERA in 41 games with 46 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings, missed 63 games because of tendinitis in his elbow before being activated from the disabled list on Sept. 1.

Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said Proctor told him recently he'd like to have the surgery as soon as possible if he wasn't in the Dodgers' postseason plans.

"We talked about it in Philadelphia the other day, I told him to go ahead and do it," Torre said.

● The ceremonial first pitch of Sunday's NLCS Game 3 at Dodger Stadium was thrown out by Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey, who made up Los Angeles' infield for a big league-record 8 1/2 seasons and played in the World Series in 1974, 1977, 1978 and 1981.