Just a few observations from last night’s game against the Orioles:
- Last night, John Lackey arguably hurled his best start of the season (only competition was his 4/24 start against the Angels) going 6-2/3 innings while giving up no runs on three hits, one walk, and 7 strikeouts. He had good velocity (hitting 95); hit his spots; and had good movement on his pitches. According to Brooks Baseball, Lackey threw 106 pitches, 69 for strikes, and 17 whiffs. If 17 whiffs seems like a lot for Lackey, it is. He’s only bested that mark four times in his career: 8/5/2002 (18), 7/28/2005 (20), 9/11/2006 (18), and 6/15/2009 (18).
- Apparently, Buck Showalter has never read “The Book” by Tom Tango, Mitchel Lichtman, and Andrew Dolphin. If he had, he never would have intentionally walked Adrian Gonzalez to face Kevin Youkilis; nor would he have intentionally walked David Ortiz to get to Josh Reddick. As it turns out, those two moves ultimately led to three runs. Oops!
- Josh Reddick has been killing the ball since being recalled from AAA Pawtucket, hitting .419/.451/.756. Even with those numbers, we need to remember that he’s produced them in an incredibly small sample, so regression is inevitable. Although I don’t see him holding down a regular spot in the lineup once Carl Crawford returns on July 18th, he’s certainly pushed his way back into the discussion as possible options to replace J.D. Drew in right field next season.
- Since losing their first two games to the Orioles in Baltimore, the Red Sox have won five straight.