Beckett clear-cut No. 1; Righty has developed into ace.

Byline: Bill Ballou

CHICAGO - Even though Tim Wakefield has won as many games as has Josh Beckett this season - 15 apiece - there isn't much doubt as to which pitcher would make a Game 1 start for the Red Sox if postseason play were to begin this weekend.

It would be Beckett, who in his second season with the Sox has developed into the ace they thought, and fervently hoped, he would be after they traded for him and Mike Lowell two winters ago.

Beckett was the scheduled starter for Boston here last night as the two old Sox American League rivals, Red and White, attempted to play the first game of four.

The game was eventually called off after a delay of 2 hours, 19 minutes. It will be made up as part of a split doubleheader today starting at 2:05 p.m..

Rain, wind and lightning pummeled the stadium as waves of vicious thunderstorms moved through the city and its suburbs. The weather was somewhat clear when the gates opened, so the ballpark had begun to fill with people when the storms hit.

Fans who ventured out from under the recesses of the protective upper deck were treated to brilliant, if terrifying, displays of thunder and lightning.

Beckett's record after 23 starts is 15-5, a step up from where he was last season after 23 starts, 13-6, but not a huge step up.

Beyond the mere won-lost record, though, lies an entirely different and tremendously improved pitcher. In getting through the season's first 23 games in 2006, Beckett survived contrasting peaks and valleys, games in which he got almost everybody out, and games in which he got almost nobody out.

On balance, the positives outweighed the negatives, but the negatives were bad enough to truly skew his statistics. After 23 starts covering 140-1/3 innings, Beckett had an earned run average of 5.00 and had walked 46.

The killer number was home runs. He had served up 31.

Compare those results with this year's, so far. Beckett has pitched more innings - 154-1/3 - in 23 starts. He has a much lower earned run average at 3.15, and his home runs surrendered have fallen off by more than two-thirds, to a mere 9.

Beckett had been pitching well going into last night's scheduled start. He had gone 2-0 in his three previous outings with a 1.61 ERA. Beckett did not allow any home runs in those games and struck out 25 in 22-1/3 innings.

While Boston went into last night with a five-game lead on the second place Yankees in the AL East, having Beckett or anyone else start a postseason game was far from a sure thing with New York and the Red Sox still having six games to play against each other.

Beckett is on track to start two of those games, next Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, then again on Sept. 14 at Fenway Park. Those are precisely the kinds of games the Sox need him to win.

So far this season, Beckett has pitched twice vs. New York and is 1-0, with the no-decision due to a blown save by Hideki Okajima. Beckett's ERA in those games is an unimpressive 5.54, but he has not allowed any Yankees home runs.

Last season, when he went 2-2 in four starts against New York, Beckett allowed at least one home run in each appearance. In those four games, Beckett compiled a dreadful ERA of 9.45 and walked 21 in 20 innings.

Two of those starts against New York were among the worst of his career. On June 5, Beckett lasted only 1-1/3 innings and left with the Sox trailing, 8-2. On Aug. 19, during the Yankees' five-game sweep at Fenway, he walked nine and allowed nine runs in 5-2/3 innings.

So far in '07, Beckett's walks are down some, his home runs allowed are down a lot and so is his earned run average. His wins are up a little, but enough to put him within range of 20.

Another one against the White Sox, and a couple against the Yankees, would go a long way toward getting him there.

NAME: BOSTON RED SOX 

ART: PHOTO

PHOTOG: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CUTLINE: A fan tries to wait out the rain delay last night before the Red Sox game in Chicago was called off.