What he could use, however, is a little better timing.
Lackey’s seven-inning, two-run effort in Friday’s 12-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies was further proof that he may have turned a corner from his early struggles. But as has been the case each time Lackey does something good of late, it was a little lost in the shuffle.
All of that is perfectly fine with the big right-hander, who improved to 7-3 and avenged a rocky outing in Philadelphia late last month. To Lackey, the assignment was rather easy, and the lack of personal glory not an issue at all.
"Once the guys start swinging the bats like that, you just want to pound the strike zone," Lackey said. "You want to get the guys back in the dugout as quick as you can because they’re feeling good at the plate and you want to get them back up there."
The Sox pounded out 17 hits, including eight doubles and a Mike Lowell two-run home run. In addition, they scored all their runs in the first three innings, turning Lackey’s workmanlike effort into an afterthought — essentially the game was over early, so few noticed that Lackey had everything working, allowing two runs for the third time in his last four starts.
While throwing just 86 pitches — 62 for strikes — Lackey fanned three and did not walk a batter for the first time in a Red Sox uniform.
"If you command you’re probably going to be in good shape," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "He commanded everything. He threw fastballs where he wanted to and he had a real sharp breaking ball."
Since giving up four runs and walking five in five innings against the Phillies on May 21, Lackey has worked largely in the shadow of the major league’s highest-scoring offense. He has received an average of 10.7 runs of support in his three wins in that stretch. And in a no-decision his last time out, he gave up just two runs in seven innings but saw the Sox fall to Baltimore 4-3 in extra innings.
Again, it was a quality effort that was nothing more than a footnote when it was all said and done.
On Friday, the fireworks were so loud, so dramatic, that you could forgive fans for forgetting who was pitching. Through three innings, David Ortiz was already 3-for-3 with four RBIs. Marco Scutaro had reached on all three plate of his appearances, and the Sox were halfway to the AL record for doubles in a game (12). Media members feverishly tore through the record books to see what other standards could be threatened.
Lackey, meanwhile, stayed the course, allowing his two runs on weak grounders that he was pleased to surrender. An out at that point in the game is far more important than his ERA, which by the way has dropped more than half a run in his last four starts.
"He was pumping strikes. The breaking ball was probably the best we’ve seen," Francona said. "Sometimes they had runners on he would take the out, sacrifice the run and move on to the next inning. He did a great job."
Lackey did such a great job, in fact, that you can’t blame anyone for not noticing.
