John Lackey Superb For Red Sox but Bard & Paps Fall Short...NNY3 Red Sox 1

John Lackey made his debut for the Boston Red Sox and showed why he will earn every penny of his $80 million salary. He went six innings, threw 100 pitches and Sox manager Terry Francona had to yank him. After all, it's still early April, pre-tax time, so 100 pitches is roughly the maximum this early. Tito said this after the 10 inning 3-1 loss...

“I’d like to have let him pitch all night,” Francona said. “But I think it would have been a little irresponsible this early in the season to send him back out.”

Take a look at his pitching line and you'll see EXACTLY what I mean...

************IP**H*R
John Lackey 6.0* 3* 0

Lackey left with a 1-0 lead but it was Bard and Papelbon who gave up one run and two runs respectively to turn the game the pinstriper's way. That two run tater in the 10th inning was hit by newcomer Curtis Granderson and he became the only player to club more than one home run off Mr. Papelbon. The crowd was silent, utterly defeated, You see, the Yankees have a great back end of their bullpen with Joba and Mariano. Things looked and turned out bleak. The Sox had their chances in the ninth but two shots that seemed headed for the seats never made it that far. Granderson's shot was clearly a home run from the crack of the round ball on a round stick of wood. Here's Jonathon Papelbon...

“I felt really good, but it was the classic situation where you make one mistake and you pay for it. It obviously was a poorly executed pitch by me, left up out over the plate. With this lineup, you’re going to pay for it. That’s the way it is.’’

If Lackey continues being this effective, well, the sky is the limit. Today is an off day and the Red Sox will travel to Kansas City to begin play there on Friday. Wakefield and the newly re-signed Josh Beckett will pitch the first two contests with Buchholz making his 2010 debut in game three. Nobody can define a season after only three games but Boston could have easily been swept had they not made a terrific comeback in game one with New York. But they did win game one and this three game series is history. There is much to be happy about but the hitting in games two and three could have been better, especially last night when Boston had plenty of guys on base. To only end up with one run won't win many ball games. But stuff happens, it's early April and things will get better. We have the starting pitching and a servicable bullpen. SO many teams cannot say the same thing.

That's the way it is, Thursday, April 8, 2010. Here in interior Connecticut, it was an astounding 93 degrees yesterday. I kept the windows closed to keep the cool air from the night before INSIDE rather than let the heated air pump in. I usually try to avoid using the A/C for as long as possible. With a simple small bedside table fan, we were comfortable.

I thank you for stopping in once again to my little corner of the "blue nowhere." You can click on this post's title for more Sox stuff and as always, BE WELL. See ya!