A less obvious achievement, but one I particularly enjoyed was Beckett beating Sabathia three times in the 2011 season's first couple months.
April 10, Sox win 4-0 as Beckett goes 8.0 with 0 runs, 2 hits and 10Ks. (Sabathia gave up 1 run in 5.2 innings)
May 14, Sox win 6-0 as Beckett goes 6.0 with 0 runs, 4 hits and 9Ks. (Sabathia gets roughed up in the Bronx for 6 runs in 6.2)
June 9, Sox win 8-3 as Beckett goes 7.0 with 2 runs, 4 hits and 6 Ks. (Sabathia again touched for 6 runs in 6.2)
This was a couple years after the Yankees bought one in 2009 and were in the ALCS in 2010 and the vibe around NYC was that the regular season was just warm-up for the MFY because they had this unbeatable colossus for the postseason in CC. However, they'd just been spurned by Cliff Lee that winter and went into 2011 with some question marks in the rotation with Colon, Garcia and AJ Burnett coming off a lousy 2010. The Yankee fan hubris was very much supported on the foundation of Sabathia being a monster. At least a couple of these games were national TV. And taking down Sabathia a rung three times right out of the gates cut that pompous team-of-destiny shit in half and planted seeds of doubt for the whole season.
This was much-appreciated "go fuck yourself" stuff from Beckett.