BOSTON -- Good riddance to the guy who has been posing as Josh Beckett for the better part of a year.

Red Sox fans thought the No. 19 who showed up Sunday night at the Fens had ridden off into the sunset, never to be seen again.

But in the spring, catcher Jason Varitek had matched up the man with the missing person on the back of the milk carton. How did Varitek know it was the real Beckett?

"He has his power back,'' Varitek said.

Indeed he does, based on the magnificent performance Beckett turned in Sunday night against the New York Yankees, a team that pummeled him last year, scoring 31 runs, the most the Yankees have scored against any pitcher since Early Wynn in 1958.

Sunday night, Beckett shut out the Yankees on two hits through eight innings, a ground-ball single by Eric Chavez in the third, a one-out line single by Robinson Cano in the fourth.

He struck out 10, the 11th 10-K performance of his career and first since July 27, 2009.

He set down the last 14 batters he faced.

He allowed only four fair balls to be hit in the air all night -- a lineout by Cano to the track in the second, Cano's single in the fourth, Cano's pop to short in the seventh and a fly to right by Russell Martin in the eighth, the last batter he faced.

Beckett's fastball touched 95. His curveball had bite, his changeup depth, his cutter great side-to-side action. He worked ahead of hitters all night, throwing 18 of 27 first-pitch strikes, including on nine of the last 12 batters.

He gave an embattled staff exactly what it needed, what a stopper delivers.

A winning series: The Sox took two of three from the Bombers, after being swept by the Rangers and Indians on the road.

A timely hit, finally: The Sox, 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position in a 9-4 loss Saturday, weren't much better Sunday, leaving a stunning 16 men on base, four short of the record for a nine-inning game. But Marco Scutaro's two-run, bases-loaded double in the eighth finally gave the Sox some breathing room after they'd clung to a 1-0 lead for most of the night. Scutaro is 9-for-16 with the bases loaded since joining the Sox, including 2-for-3 this season with four RBIs.

No relief for Crawford: The Sox $142 million man is now 1-for-15 in his new home after taking an 0-for-5 Sunday night. The 0-fer came even though he hit three balls hard, Mark Teixeira robbing him of one hit.

No save for Papelbon: But a nice 1-2-3 inning with a couple of strikeouts for Papelbon in the ninth.

Worry lines: Adrian Gonzalez was hit by a pitch by CC Sabathia in the left hand in the fifth inning. He stayed in the game, but his left pinkie was swollen badly.