ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Josh Beckett refused to make excuses for a rocky outing in his spring debut for the Boston Red Sox.

The right-hander, acquired from Florida in a seven-player trade during the offseason, allowed five runs in three innings of Boston’s 8-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Monday.

Even though it’s only spring training, Beckett did not take the performance lightly.

“It’s not like I was just out there trying to throw my pitches. If I was going to do that, I would have just thrown a 50-pitch bullpen. When I’m out there, I’m trying to get people out,” the 2003 World Series MVP said.

The 25-year-old right-hander said he felt strong physically, but did not do a good job of locating his pitches.

“I’m not going to feel that good and pitch that bad very often,” he said.

. … I guess I can take that as a positive point,” Beckett said.

“I made some mistakes that shouldn’t happen. You learn from it and move on. It was all about executing pitches. I didn’t. I left the ball to Gomes in the middle of the plate, trying to get it in. Lugo, same thing. Actually I was trying to go away and left it in the middle of the plate.”

Beckett, who agreed last month to a $4,325,000, one-year contract, is coming off a season in which he set career highs for wins, starts, innings pitched and strikeouts while going 15-8 with a 3.38 ERA for the Marlins.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said it simply was good to see Beckett on the mound in a Boston uniform.

“A healthy Beckett is exciting,” Francona said. “He looked strong. … You always want to win, but we want him to get ready for the season.”

Boston rallied on Josh Bard’s two-run double in the fourth and Dustan Mohr’s two-run homer off Chad Harville in the sixth. The Red Sox added three more in the seventh, with Josh Pressley’s two-run single providing the go-ahead runs.

Notes: Boston’s lineup did not include any regulars. … Tampa Bay starter Doug Waechter pitched two perfect innings. … Devil Rays reliever Shinji Mori, sidelined since last week because of soreness in his right shoulder, is scheduled to begin throwing again on Tuesday.

AP-ES-03-06-06 1642EST