John Lackey has been the target of many angry Red Sox fans as well as the media. We here at Fire Brand are guilty of that as well. However, that isn’t to say that Lackey hasn’t earned at least some of the criticism that has been fired his way. For one, there’s the performance, which has been, for the most part, especially poor this season. Second, there is his contract, which suggests he’s much closer to a very good number two starter than a pitcher with a 5.06 ERA as a member of the Sox. The final aspect is his brash attitude that I believe is somewhat passion, but mostly arrogance. Combined, those factors create and explosive formula when it comes the Red Sox Nation and the Boston media.
That being said, Lackey is not washed up just yet. I pointed out the other day that Lackey has been a better second half pitcher since 2009 and, as a matter of fact, his K/BB rate has drastically improved since coming off of the DL this season. Since his first start back on June 6th, Lackey has posted a 24/9 K/BB rate with more ground-balls than line-drives or fly-balls.
Lackey showed us that he still has something left in the tank with his performance Wednesday night. His final line was 7.2 innings, eight hits, two earned runs, five strikeouts to only one walk. He also generated 12 ground-balls. If it weren’t for Raul Ibanez, Lackey would have won the game. Going into the game, Ibanez had put up a .352/.407/.426 line against Lackey. He went 3-for-3 with a home run and both RBI for the Phillies. One could make the argument that the homer came off of what was a pretty good pitch; a curveball that broke below the strike-zone, that Ibanez golfed out of the park.
If Lackey can put more outings like this one together going forward, perhaps he can pitch his way out of the doghouse.
Despite Lackey’s positive performance, the Red Sox offense couldn’t put anything together against Vance Worley. Terry Francona finally decided to get David Ortiz into the starting lineup at an NL park, moveing Adrian Gonzalez to right-field. It ended up being a non-factor as Ortiz went 0-for-4. The only extra base hit the Sox managed came of the bat of none other than starting pitcher John Lackey, which drove in the still red-hot Josh Reddick (2-for-3).
Wednesday’s loss puts the Sox 2.5 games behind the New York Yankees and ensures that they will lose their third straight series. Things won’t get much easier for the Sox offense during today’s day game, as the Phillies put Cole Hamels on the mound.
This is where Jon Lester needs to step up and be the ace that we all know he can be. No matter what, it’s going to be a fun game to watch, but all is for not if the Sox are swept out of Philadelphia.