I Still Hate John Lackey But I Can Admit That The Man Is Pitching Well

Lackey and Stephen Drew are the only two guys currently on the Red Sox that I refuse to cheer for with Jonny Gomes just missing out on the list. Granted, I can appreciate when any of them do something positive to help the team and right now, Lackey (5-5) might be Boston's best starting pitcher. Haha seriously. This afternoon was probably his best outing in a Red Sox (47-33 ovearll, 25-15 home) uniform, which isn't saying much, as Boston beat Colorado (39-40 overall, 16-23 away) 5-3 during interleague play at Fenway Park.

Against the highest scoring team in the National League, Lackey went seven innings and allowed two earned runs on eight hits with a career-high 12 strikeouts and no walks. Staked to a 5-1 lead, Junichi Tazawa gave up a solo homer to Michael Cuddyer in the eighth but Koji Uehara was able to get a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his second save (first as the closer).

There was plenty to like in Boston's mini two-game sweep of Colorado. For one thing, their offense had double digit hits (10). Wilin Rosario (double) gave the Rockies a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in their first at bats but the Red Sox scored three in the first then added two in the third which turned out to be enough.

Shane Victorino (3 for 4 with double, 2 runs) had an RBI single that scored Jacoby Ellsbury (double), David Ortiz (2 walks, run) notched an RBI double and Daniel Nava made it 3-1 with an RBI single.

Mike Napoli had an RBI single in the third and Nava drove in the last run with a sacrifice fly. Cuddyer extended his hit streak to 23 games with a solo homer off Lackey in the sixth.

Fresh off an 11-game win streak that put them back over .500 and vaulted them into the AL East race, the Blue Jays (39-38, 5th in AL East) visit Fenway for four games this weekend beginning tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) with Jon Lester (7-4) facing ex-Yankee Chien-Ming Wang (1-0). Felix Doubront (4-3) takes on Josh Johnson (1-2) on Friday (7:10, NESN). Rookie Allen Webster (0-2) gets his fourth MLB start against Esmil Rogers (3-3) on Saturday afternoon (4:05, NESN). Canadian Ryan Dempster (5-8) closes it out on Sunday afternoon (1:35, NESN) versus Mark Buehrle (4-5). Boston is 5-4 against Toronto so far this season.

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