Red Sox News & Notes – 7/17

Shortstop Marco Scutaro(notes) #10 of the Boston Red Sox turns a double play as B.J. Upton(notes) #2 of the Tampa Bay Rays tries to break it up during the game at Tropicana Field on July 16, 2011 in St. Petersburg, Florida

The last time the Boston Red Sox faced Tampa Bay Rays starter James Shields, they found themselves on the wrong end of a complete game five-hit shutout. And with John Lackey allowing three early runs, it looked like it could be another long afternoon for the visiting nine.

Instead, Lackey settled down and the offense did what it’s been doing all season long and got the Red Sox the lead and an eventual 9-5 win.

Now I won’t completely blame Lackey for the 1st inning struggles even though he was leaving some meatballs over the plate. A good portion of the blame lies on Marco Scutaro who made an throwing error to the leadoff hitter Johnny Damon. The Rays followed that up with two straight singles to get Damon home. The first out of the inning would finally come when Dustin Pedroia made a great save of a throw from Scutaro to get a force out at second.

But two straight singles after that brought in two more runs and just like that it was 3-0. Lackey would finally get out of the inning when he got Sam Fuld to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.

Three batters into the 2nd inning, the Red Sox offense had already gotten them back into the game as Josh Reddick hit an absolute two-run bomb over the right field seats to cut that deficit to one. Lackey would once again load up the bases in the bottom half but escaped any damage when Casey Kotchman grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

The Red Sox offense would put them in front for good in the 3rd inning.

Adrian Gonzalez reached on a leadoff walk and went to second on a Kevin Youkilis single. David Ortiz cleared the bases with a double that put the Red Sox up 4-3. J.D. Drew followed that up with a double of his own to score Big Papi. Jacoby Ellsbury would leadoff the 4th with a solo home run to push the Red Sox lead to three.

Meanwhile Lackey had firmly settled in until a mistake pitch to Matthew Joyce in the 5th. Joyce had just fouled a ball off of his knee cap but took the next one he saw out of the ballpark. He got himself into trouble in the 6th but newcomer Randy Williams would need just one pitch to get out of the inning.

The Red Sox would add a run in the 7th on a Pedroia home run and got two more in the 9th.

Yes once again Lackey was inconsistent but he definitely made some great in-game adjustments. It was a start that could have gone horribly wrong for him but instead he found himself on the winning end of back-to-back games for the first time this season. Hopefully, Lackey can build off of this start for his next one.

Given the state of the Red Sox rotation right now with all of the injuries, Lackey is a key component of the Red Sox’s success going forward. If he’s successful then the Red Sox will be too.

We’ll be back later with this evening’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. But for now, enjoy the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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Red Sox get even with Rays [Boston Globe]

Time to go and get this Met [Boston Globe]

Crawford makes quick work of rehab stint [Boston Globe]

No timetable on Buchholz [Boston Globe]

Finding right gear [Boston Herald]

Williams gets job done [Boston Herald]

Healthy Pedey powers up [Boston Herald]

Buchholz: Lingering concern [Boston Herald]

John Lackey building arm strength, Dustin Pedroia showing power [Clubhouse Insider]

Lackey gives just enough to slow Rays, 9-5 [CSNNE.com]

With Jenks on DL, Sox mull bullpen options [CSNNE.com]