Saved By The Bats

"Lack" as his teammates call tonight's starting pitcher, was out of whack. Fortunately for the Red Sox, Jays starter Brandon Morrow was about to walk the whole lineup in one bizarre inning that erased the damage Lackey did in the top half of the frame. The Sox won a weird one, for sure, but a win's a win and they all count the same, no matter when or how you win them.

Out-of-whack Lack gave up 6 runs on 8 hits in 6 innings pitched, walking 3, and striking out 6. His second inning resembled Dice-K's first inning last week against the Halos. He struggled mightily to get that first out. In the bottom of the second, the Sox got all those runs back by waiting for Morrow to throw strikes and taking advantage when he did throw them. Instead of grounding into a double play, V-Mart grounded into a fielder's choice when Aaron Hill tossed a rainbow to Lyle Overbay and two runs scored. Papi added another run with a single that chased Morrow from the game with the Sox up 6-4. They'd add another run, the one that ended up winning the game for them, in the third, Pedey knocked in Van Every, who had singled, then took two bases on an Alex Gonzalez throwing error.

The final two Jays runs were scored when Bautista took Lackey deep with Gonzalez on. The Sox pen held down the slim lead as Oki, Bard, and Pap each pitched a scoreless inning. With this win, the Sox are 17 and 16 and a game and a half behind the Jays in the division. Tomorrow night, Dice-K tries to avoid a nuclear inning and the Sox hope they can continue their success against Dana Eveland. Wake makes a start on Wednesday. Beckett was originally pushed back to Friday to work on a few things and to avoid facing a team that knocks him around just as much, if not more, than the Yankees do. His Friday start against the Tigers in Detroit is now in question, as he tweaked his back in pitcher's batting practice today (preparing for interleague play).

The jury's still out on the 2010 Red Sox. They won today despite a poor start by Lackey, but the team ERA, already third from the bottom in the AL took another hit and concerns about the starting rotation continue. There's too much talent in this rotation to be so inconsistent. After a typically awful April, Lester seems to have gotten into a groove. Buchholz was cruising along, for the most part, until his last two starts. Beckett has been an enigma, as has Dice-K, though Dice-K hasn't had a chance to put it together yet, having spent the first month on the DL. As for Wake, he is what he is. If the knuckler's cooperating, he can spin a gem, but if it gets flat, look out!

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!