For the second straight night, pitching was the name of the game for the Boston Red Sox. This time it was John Lackey’s turn to shine against his former team in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Lackey allowed just two hits and one run against his former team to lead his new team to a 3-1 win in front of 37,601 on Nomar Garciaparra Day at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.
It’s the third straight win for the Red Sox over the Angels as they get back to .500 at 14-14. For the Angels, it’s the sixth straight loss on in the first six games their ten-game road trip as they fall to 12-17.
Lackey had dominating stuff and only really got into trouble once, coming in the second inning. One of the two hits he allowed was to Kendry Morales in that inning. He also had walk and hit a batter in the inning. The other hit of the game came on a Brandon Wood home run. He finished with two walks and four strikeouts to pick up his third win of the season.
Daniel Bard struck out two in the 8th and Jonathan Papelbon worked a perfect 9th to pickup his eighth save of the season.
Adrian Beltre had three hits to raise his average to .340 and added two RBIs, one coming on his second home run of the season. The other run came off the bat of David Ortiz, who had two hits, including a solo home run. Dustin Pedroia also added two hits.
Beltre knocked in J.D. Drew for the first run of the game off of former Red Sox pitcher Joel Piñeiro after a walk to Drew and a single by Ortiz. Big Papi made it 2-0 with a solo home run into the Green Monster seats in the 4th.
Wood’s home run came with two outs in the 5th but Beltre’s solo home run in the 8th provided the 2-run cushion.
The Red Sox will look for the four-game sweep behind Daisuke Matsuzaka. He’ll be opposed by Scott Kazmir in a 7:10 p.m. game on Thursday night.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Boston Red Sox 5.5.10 box score
