John Lackey hoped to continue his nice little hot streak he’s been on lately and bring us a late night win last night against the Mariners. Lackey’s career numbers against the Mariners have been stellar, so I was confidence as the clock hit 10pm EST and the Sox took the field. Lackey didn’t dominate the Mariners and seemingly gave up WAY too many hits, but he pitched well enough for the offense to have his back and get him the W.
Lackey got us out to an early 0-2 deficit when he gave up a bases loaded RBI hit with no outs. It seemed like it was going to be one of those nights. Lackey got out of the inning with no more damage and in top of the 2nd inning the Sox gave him the lead right back. David Ortiz hit his 24th HR of the season. Salty hit an infield single, however it did more damage than just a base hit. The ball took a rough hop and hit Justin Smoak right in the face. He was on the ground for a few minutes and was taken out of the game. It was reported Smoak had a broken nose. Hopefully that it all it is. The Sox tied the game with an Aviles sac fly.
Lackey gave the lead right back to the Mariners in the bottom of the 2nd giving up a bunch of hits and an RBI single to Ackley for the 3-2 deficit. Lackey gave up another run in the 4th to have the Sox down 4-2. However, Jed Lowrie got one of those runs right back in the 5th with a solo HR. It’s nice to see Jed hit for power every once in a while. Lackey went on to have a 1-2-3 5th inning and was rewarded by Josh Reddick hitting a 2 run HR and giving the Sox the lead. Lackey had himself another 1-2-3 inning in the 6th and was rewarded with Papi hitting an RBI single to give the Sox a 6-4 lead.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Lackey was pulled when he gave up a hit in the 7th. His pitching line for the night was 6 IP, TEN hits, 4 R, 2 BBs and 3 Ks. It could have been a lot better, but it also could have been a lot worse. Franklin Morales was in the game in relief. I was holding my breath. Morales got 2 outs and then turned the ball over to Daniel Bard. Bard K’ed Olivo to end the inning and he also got his 3 outs in the bottom of the 8th. Papelbon was on the mound looking for his 27th save. He gave up a single to Seager, but that is all they could get going against him.
It was a nice win for the Sox that looked like it was heading towards a loss for a while. It’s especially nice since the Yankees lost last night, so we got to add another game on them in the standing.
Red Sox 6 Mariners 4 BOXSCORE
WP: Lackey (11-8)
LP: Beavan(3-3)
SV: Papelbon (27)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
