Josh Beckett served notice with a 94-pitch gem on Sunday that he could not only be the ace of the Red Sox staff, he might challenge Roy Halladay for Cy Young consideration by the end of the season.

“We played pretty good defense, which can cover up mistakes,” Beckett said. “Hard-hit balls at guys. They have a pretty aggressive approach. It was a lot of pitching to contact, especially in the middle of the game. But we played good defense. Nick Green made some good plays on balls that were hit right at him, but they were hit hard and I think each one of the outfielders all made at least one good play.”

At the end of April, in five starts, Beckett was 2-2 with a 7.22 ERA. After Sunday, Beckett is 11-3 with a 3.35 ERA. Combine that with Jon Lester, who came on strong in the second half in 2007 and ’08, and you have quite the 1-2 punch.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence when Beckett and Lester start getting games,” Red Sox skipper Terry Francona said. “That makes us a better team. Every starter, but his ERA has gone from what it was the first month to now. He has been the Beckett we have come to appreciate. After a late night last night, where we used a lot of pitching, to have him come out and throw like that, is great.”

Let us not forget that Beckett racked up his 100th career win, tossing his seventh career complete game, four of which are shutouts.

“It’s pretty memorable, and the way I did it was pretty cool,” Beckett said in an economical fashion, befitting his sub-100 pitch complete game. “That’s kind of out of my control. They obviously want to swing and hit good pitches, and I don’t think you could do that if you got a lot of foul balls and a lot of strikeouts.”

Asked to expand, Beckett added, “It means I’ve stuck around for a little while anyway. Obviously, you’re striving to win every game but sometimes things don’t always work in your favor and fortunately for me, this is my fourth year here and I’ve been on a team that scores quite a few runs, so that’s jumpstarted me towards getting towards that high mark.”

His 6-0 gem Sunday was his second shutout of the season.

“Oh, he was good,” Francona said. “He attacked the strike zone with a fastball, and it was very obvious they wanted to hit his fastball. He worked ahead and stayed out of the middle. We had a long fourth and he went out and had a real short fifth. He was so good today, he was fun to watch.”

“He was outstanding,” added Kansas City skipper Trey Hillman. “Not a lot we could do with him today to be honest with you and obviously, we struggled over the last couple of days throwing strikes and too many base on balls.”

Here are four other things we learned on a sparkling Sunday at Fenway:

CLAY BUCHHOLZ WILL GET HIS CHANCE, AT LEAST FOR ONE START

Whether it’s a showcase start against the team shopping Halladay or not, this coming Friday figures to be fascinating theatre in Toronto. Francona announced after the game that Buchholz will start Friday, against the Jays at Rogers Centre, allowing the Red Sox to set up their rotation and give some of their starters some extra rest. Brad Penny and Lester will finish up the Toronto series. Then John Smoltz, Beckett and Tim Wakefield will pitch the three games in Texas.

This is not the beginning of a six-man rotation but rather a one-time shot for Buchholz (barring injury or trade), and doesn’t figure to be a long-term solution. Still, it’s an exciting chance for the 24-year-old righty.

“The first time I ever got called up was the day before and I couldn’t go to sleep at night and had everybody calling me. At least now I’ve been there before,” Buchholz told reporters after losing a decision on Sunday in Pawtucket.

“It’s going to be good, I’ve actually pitched in Toronto a couple times already,” Buchholz added. “I know the atmosphere and I think it’ll be a fun day for me. I’m going to go out there and pitch like I’ve been pitching here and not really care about the results as much as everyone out there in the process of it. Like I said, it’s going to be a fun day.

“It’s going to be a nice little ride for me, and we’ll see what happens from there.”

Buchholz will be making his first start for Boston since losing 11-6 at Baltimore last Aug. 20.

Buchholz told reporters he plans to relax with his fiancee on Cape Cod for the next few days before getting for Friday.

JASON BAY CAN TAKE A PITCH

The Red Sox left fielder posted perhaps the most amazing stat of the day -- he walked in his first three plate appearances on 12 pitches. Four balls each time. Then in his next appearance in the sixth, he was hit by the first pitch he saw.

In the eighth, he watched as the count went 2-0. That’s 15 straight pitches out of the strike zone. He eventually was hit by the pitch again. Three walks and hit by a pitch twice is how Bay went five plate appearances without an official at-bat.

Bay will take the bruise from the Joakim Soria fastball to the small of his back with him to St. Louis for Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

THE ALL-STAR BREAK COULDN'T COME AT A BETTER TIME

All kidding aside about Bay getting drilled twice, there are many veteran Red Sox players who will soak up the R & R while they can get it. They include Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell, Mark Kotsay and every member of the bullpen, which collectively had an ERA over 7.00 the last 10 days.

“We are going to get lulled back here pretty soon,” Francona said. “That will be a lot of help. It’s a good time for the break. Hopefully, everybody will take advantage of it. The guys going to the All-Star Game, they will have fun, win and be safe. And we will come back and try to pick up right where we left off.”

THE RED SOX ARE POSITIONED FOR ANOTHER BIG POST-ALL STAR RUN

The schedule after the All-Star break has traditionally belonged to the Red Sox since 2004 and is where they have made their hay in recent years. They go into the break with a three-game lead over the Yankees after the Bombers were swept in Anaheim by the Angels on Sunday. The Red Sox are 54-34 while the Yankees stand 51-37.

“Whatever our record is, that’s kind of what we stand by because that’s what matters,” Francona said. “We’ve been a little beat up. I think our guys have done a great job of kind of grinding this out. Kind of typical, Tek catching today, having a couple of really good at-bats and catching Beckett. Those are things I hope don’t go unnoticed.”

Alex Katz contributed to this report.