BOSTON – Even after the best of outings, it is unlikely Red Sox ace Josh Beckett will give a favorable report on himself. And while last night’s outing could count as favorable – one of nine quality starts among his 14 outings this season – the 2-1 loss to Dan Haren and the Diamondbacks at Fenway Park precluded any Beckett optimism.Beckett and Haren entered the game with identical 7-4 records and nearly identical ERAs – Beckett’s at 3.87 to Haren’s 3.26. Beckett went eight innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks, striking out eight.The only difficulty Beckett faced was in the top half of the seventh inning, walking lead-off batter Conor Jackson before striking out Chad Tracy for the third time (increasing Reynolds’ season strikeout total by 50 percent, to nine). Mark Reynolds singled to left and Chris Young doubled off the Green Monster for the Diamondbacks’ first run, followed by Chris Snyder, who grounded out to first for the second run.”It was just a poorly executed pitch to Young, trying to get a sinker down and in and it caught two inches too much of the plate,” Beckett said. “He hit it. He hit it well. I heard someone on TV just a minute ago say he probably got the biggest hit. I said, ‘Probably got the biggest hit? He got the only RBI-hit of the game.’ There were only three runs scored. One of them was on a ground ball. One of them was on a sac fly. So, I’d say that he probably got the biggest hit of the game.”Although Haren entered the game having allowed a combined .310 average (26-for-84) to the 10 Sox who had faced him previously, on this night he was able to shut them down. Haren – 14th in the majors in opponents’ batting average, at .216 – held the Sox – fourth in the majors in team batting, at .279 – to just two hits and a walk, striking out five over seven innings. The Sox scored their lone run off reliever Tony Pena in the eighth inning.”(Haren’s) tough,” Beckett said. “It don’t matter who he’s pitching against. He’s tough. He throws balls on the black pretty much the whole time with all his pitches. That’s why he’s regarded as one of the best.”Despite the outcome, Beckett said he appreciates the challenge of a pitchers’ duel – with a caveat.”I don’t know, sometimes it’s more fun when we score nine,” he said. “It seems like we’ve won a lot more of those games. It’s fun to sit over there when you’re pitching because you’re more locked in that day than you are any other day. It’s fun to watch a guy work like that. Obviously, it’s a little more fun when you end up on the winning end. There are a few pitchers in the big leagues that I enjoy watching and pitching against, and the reason why I like pitching against them is because I’m generally more locked into those games and I probably pay a little more attention. He’s obviously one. (Toronto pitcher) Roy Halladay comes to mind. There’s a few guys.”It was about as good a pitcher’s duel as the Sox have been involved in this season.”(Haren) can reach back for a fastball when he needs it and his off-speed stuff is so good, along with the deception that he creates in his delivery, that he can throw any pitch at any time. He really did a good job against us,” said Sox manager Terry Francona.”That was a good one. Beckett was outstanding also. He left that one fastball up to Young that he hit off the wall and the second run they scored is a grounder to first. That was two really good pitchers.”Two really good pitchers. Enjoyable to watch. More fun when you win.