As with most people involved in pro sports, Josh Beckett is always a lot more interesting to listen to in defeat rather than in victory. After serving up a career high five home run balls in an 8-4 loss to the New York Yankees Sunday night, Beckett wasn’t making any excuses.

Here’s the full, unedited transcript from a clearly humbled Beckett following last night’s game. He didn’t have a whole lot to say, but what he did say was frank, forthright and -- typical of Beckett in defeat -- no bullcrap.

How weird was that outing? JB: That was a pretty good ass-whupping. To sum it up, it was an ass-whupping for me.

It looked like they were jumping on fastballs early in counts. How did the fastball feel? JB: It felt alright sometimes. Obviously when they jump on them the results aren’t great. The bottom line is that eight runs in eight innings aren’t getting it done.

How frustrating have the results of the last few games been given where we are in the season? JB: Very frustrating. What can I say? You can't give up seven or eight runs every god-damned time you go out there. You’re not going to be around here very long if you do that.

Josh, did you anything feel different in the last two games? JB: Yeah, there were a lot of things different. Glaring-wise, it was the runs.

Do you feel like you were having trouble executing pitches? JB: Yeah, the ones that mattered for sure.

Where do you go from here? JB: Go back at ‘em in five days.

Are you going to be able to leave this one behind after tonight, or is this going to stay with you for a bit? JB: Obviously you tend to remember these. These are humbling deals. That was a pretty good ass-whupping I got out there today. That’s the only words I got to sum it up.

Everything feels good physically? JB: Yeah.

This is a tough stretch and you’ve up and down I the first part of it. Do you still feel good about where this team is headed? JB: Yeah, I’m still confident in the guys. This one today is on me. Guys went out there and did their jobs and got 9 or 10 hits. You can’t expect them to score 11 runs out there every time, and that’s basically what they would have to score with the way I pitched.

Do you feel like it’s time to maybe drop the division race from focus and instead just concentrate on the wild card? JB: I think we’re just trying to go one game at a time. We’re not looking at that. We’re just looking to get into the playoffs, but we’re taking it one game at a time.