BOSTON — This was a different Josh Beckett than the one the Tampa Bay Rays knocked around in last year's AL championship series.

The Red Sox right-hander struck out 10 in seven innings of two-hit ball to lead Boston to a 5-3 victory over Tampa Bay yesterday in a makeup of their rained-out opener.

For Beckett, who was recovering from a side strain when he faced the Rays in the playoffs last year, it was a chance to show the form that made him a 20-game winner and Cy Young Award contender in 2007.

"A healthy Beckett," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "We've got a long way to go. But watching the way he's throwing is big. We want to lean on him."

AL MVP Dustin Pedroia homered on the second pitch he saw this season, and Jason Varitek also homered to help Boston get off to a fast start against the team that edged the Red Sox by two games for the AL East title last year. The Rays knocked the Red Sox out of the ALCS in seven games after pounding Beckett for eight runs in his first start, and hitting a pair of homers off him in Game 6 when he struggled to overcome reduced velocity.