Much like Dice-K, his fellow target of much derision among the Fenway Faithful, Lackey has outings where he is dominant, ones like Saturday night (yes, it's past midnight on Sunday morning) that leave us wondering why they can't be more of the norm. Maybe such a comparison is unfair after a night where he kept the O's off the scoreboard the entire game and kept the Red Sox in the W column for the 5th straight game and atop the AL East.
Friday night's spectacle involved an 8-run 1st inning by the Red Sox, a rain-soaked 5th, with the pitcher's mound feeling like a banana peel under the feet of Josh Beckett, and a benches-and- bullpen-clearing fracas in the 8th involving Big Papi and O's closer Kevin Gregg. Papi was pissed because Gregg threw inside at him 3 times, once going right in his kitchen and preheating his oven to 450. Oriole that Gregg is, he got his orange feathers ruffled when Papi swung 3-0, popped up, and ambled his way toward first base. Gregg yelled something incendiary (no doubt including those infamous "baseball terms" as Beckett calls them) at Papi and got the heave-ho from the home plate ump. Papi charged at Gregg and all hell broke loose. Reddick, who was cooling his heels at third after an RBI triple could have just strolled on home and scored the Red Sox' 11th run, but he took a detour toward the Rumble in the Infield and was called out on one of the strangest double-plays I've ever seen. It remains to be seen what the disciplinary ramifications of this skirmish will be, but I'm seeing a suspension for Papi and possibly Salty, who apparently got into it with O's reliever Jim Johnson and was summarily tossed from the game--a game in which he didn't even play! Oh, and by the way, the Sox won 10-3.
After Lackey and the Red Sox' 4-0 victory, they go for the sweep later today with rookie Kyle Weiland, fresh from Pawtucket, on the bump. Weiland is starting in place of the DL-ed Lester and it will be interesting to see how he transitions to playing for the Big Boys. He has done very well in AAA and is deserving of his shot in The Show.
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