Both Erik Bedard and John Lackey were pitching against the Texas Rangers, a possible playoff opponent with a powerful offense. Surely this would help Terry Francona make a decision once October rolled around, if indeed he was looking at it the same way.
However, neither pitcher really hurt or helped his cause. They posted very similar lines, leaving the supposed competition up in the air. Heck, a few wayward souls even suggested that Andrew Miller, who dominated in his start against the Rangers in that series, should get some consideration if and when it comes time to choose a starter beyond Josh Beckett and Jon Lester.
While that series only served to muddy the waters in the Bedard-Lackey debate, the rematch at Fenway Park this weekend may have given us our first legitimate separation.
In the hours after Bedard threw six solid innings against the Rangers to pick up his first win in a Red Sox uniform, Lackey was underwhelming in an 11-4 setback Sunday afternoon.
Lackey gave up six runs on eight hits in five-plus innings. He walked three and struck out just one. Although he was able to limit Texas to just single runs in the second and third, there were base runners on in every inning. And in the sixth, he hit a wall.
The first three men in that inning singled to make it 3-0 Rangers, and the fourth walked to load the bases. In came young lefty Felix Doubront, and in a matter of moments it was 9-0, with four of the runs in the inning charged to Lackey.
"They made him work real hard right from the get-go, as they do," Francona said of Lackey, who threw 87 pitches in the first five innings, during which he walked two, hit one and gave up three extra-base hits.
Lackey agreed that Texas made him earn everything on what was a pretty humid day, leading to his earliest departure in his last 11 starts.
"They've got a good lineup. They're tough," Lackey said. "They definitely worked me, got my pitch count up quite a bit there in the sixth inning. Just got enough of some hits to get me out of there."
The back-to-back starts by Bedard and Lackey reinforced one other item. While Bedard has been perfectly fine against Texas in his career (5-4 with a 3.49 ERA), Lackey has not. After Sunday, the right-hander is 12-14 with a 6.16 mark versus the Rangers.
Although Lackey's effort in Arlington on Aug. 23 was good enough, many of his 35 career starts versus Texas have gone the other way, and several Rangers hitters boast some gaudy numbers against the righty. Lackey even admitted he doesn't "have a lot of tricks left" against the Rangers.
"There's a lot of history there, and there's a lot of guys that have some pretty good numbers [against Lackey]," Francona said. "That doesn't mean you can't beat them, but they work you pretty good. They're a good team."
If the playoffs began today, the Red Sox would travel to Texas for the first two games of the American League Division Series. That would put Game 3 back at Fenway Park, where it's very possible that the Rangers would turn to either Derek Holland, who threw seven shutout innings against the Sox on Friday, or Matt Harrison, who took a shutout into the seventh on Sunday.
The question as to who starts that game for Boston will not be answered for some time, if it even becomes a question. But the events of the last two days at Fenway may have shifted things in favor of Bedard.
