Final, Red Sox 9-5: You love him. You hate him. Right now, you can't live without him.
John Lackey has won two straight starts, and with all the injuries to the rotation has suddenly emerged as one of the more dependable figures on this staff.
Lackey gives up three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven. The bullpen does the job from there, although Jonathan Papelbon did give up a run in the ninth on a Casey Kotchman triple and Evan Longoria single.
Boston has won 11 of 13 overall and maintains a 1 1/2-game lead over New York in the division. Its advantage over Tampa Bay is back to six games.
Josh Beckett, who left his last start early due to a hyperextended left knee, will get the ball in the series finale Sunday night. It is an 8:05 p.m. start, so plan accordingly. Part of that planning process should always include setting some time aside for the live blog.
Thanks for following along today.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 9-4: If you are a Rays fan, the top of the ninth was like water torture.
Boston never hit the ball out of the infield and drew only one walk, but scored twice.
After Adrian Gonzalez struck out, Kevin Youkilis won a nine-pitch battle with Adam Russell to walk in a run.
The second run came in when David Ortiz hit one off Russell, who recovered to make the play at first for the second out while Jacoby Ellsbury trotted home.
Jonathan Papelbon is coming on for a non-save situation. Obviously, because of the All-Star break, he could use the work.
7:24 p.m.: Adrian Gonzalez is 0-for-8 since the All-Star break after striking out against lefty Jake McGee.
Joe Maddon is 8-for-8 since the All-Star break in making multiple pitching changes in an inning…or something like that. He plays EVERY single matchup and is doing so again with Kevin Youkilis coming to the plate.
7:18 p.m.: The Red Sox have loaded the bases with no outs on two infield hits and a catcher's interference. Adrian Gonzalez is stepping to the plate with a chance to put this one out of reach.
Joe Maddon is going to the bullpen once again.
End 8th, Red Sox 7-4: Daniel Bard's scoreless streak was threatened in the eighth when Sam Fuld led off with a double.
However, Bard retires the next three in order to extend his run to 20 2/3 innings. The last out came when Bard snuck a fastball over the inside part of the plate to fan Johnny Damon.
Bard's scoreless streak is the longest current run in baseball for a starter or reliever, the longest for a Red Sox pitcher this season and it matches a scoreless streak for Hideki Okajima early in 2007. Not sure yet what the previous longest run by a Boston reliever was, but we should have that info soon enough.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 7-4: Boston goes quietly in the eighth. I'm starving.
End 7th, Red Sox 7-4: Daniel Bard retires B.J. Upton to finish the seventh.
With that, allow me to use a public forum to wish my son a happy 2nd birthday. He is not too pleased with me covering a "beefball" game, as he likes to call our favorite sport, but there's always tomorrow morning.
Happy B-Day, buddy.
6:48 p.m.: Solid Red Sox debut for Randy Williams, who strands two runners in the sixth, and then retires Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce to begin the seventh.
Daniel Bard is on for what figures to be four outs.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 7-4: The Rays have three more hits, have committed one less error, have two stolen bases to Boston's zero and had their starting pitcher last longer than the Red Sox'.
If I told you all that before the game, you'd think Tampa Bay would have a lead, perhaps even a sizable one. But they are down three runs again after Dustin Pedroia's 13th homer of the year. He and Jacoby Ellsbury are in a pretty good battle in an effort to catch David Ortiz, who leads the team with 19.
Randy Williams is back out to begin the bottom of the seventh for Boston.
6:37 p.m.: Dustin Pedroia has three home runs in his last three games, five in his last six and six in his last eight after taking Juan Cruz the other way.
It is the seventh home run of the series already for Boston.
Cruz lasted two more hitters. A lefty is coming on to face David Ortiz.
End 6th, Red Sox 6-4: Randy Williams came on and threw one pitch to get Casey Kotchman. John Lackey remains in line for his seventh win of the year.
6:29 p.m.: In the pantheon of John Lackey bad body language and ill-advised verbal rants, the way he just reacted to Terry Francona removing him from the game is right up there.
Lackey used several f-bombs (those are just references to fudge, for you kids out there) when Francona went to get Lackey with two on and two out in the sixth.
Lackey got the first two outs before Johnny Damon reached on a rare error by Adrian Gonzalez, and then Ben Zobrist was hit by a pitch. That's Lackey's MLB-leading 12th hit batsman, two more than Jon Lester, who is second.
Randy Williams is on in a huge spot.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 6-4: Josh Reddick reached to begin the sixth on the first error of the season by Casey Kotchman.
Two outs later, Reddick was still stuck on first as Dustin Pedroia batted. With an 0-2 count on Pedroia, Reddick bolted for second and was a rather easy out, even though Kelly Shoppach's throw was off line.
Shoppach has thrown out 13-of-23 runners this year. That's darn good.
End 5th, Red Sox 6-4: We just had a Kirk Gibson-like moment at The Trop.
John Lackey had set down nine of 11, five of them with strikeouts, and then had Matt Joyce foul a cutter off his right leg before crumpling to the dirt in pain.
After a lengthy delay to make sure Joyce was OK, he takes Lackey's next offering over the wall in right. Seeing Joyce limp around the bases on a home run to right had a little Gibson flair to it. OK, not quite, but it got a few smiles on the faces of the Rays and pulled them within two.
Lackey is really filling up the stat sheet. He has given up 10 hits and has seven strikeouts in five innings. With his pitch count at 96, we may only see him for one more frame.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 6-3: James Shields has his first perfect inning of the game and this one has settled down a bit.
Shields is at 89 pitches through five. John Lackey is at 81 through four. Obviously, the bullpens will play a huge role in this one.
End 4th, Red Sox 6-3: John Lackey has five strikeouts in the last two innings alone and six overall.
Four of the five K's in the third and fourth came on the slider. The last came on a cutter that had Ben Zobrist looking back out to the mound with that "what-the-heck-was-that?" look.
Lackey has allowed two earned runs in 10 2/3 innings since his disastrous effort against Toronto two starts ago.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 6-3: Jacoby Ellsbury has four home runs in his last seven games, and one in each game of this series after taking James Shields over the wall in right.
It was barely over the wall, but enough to keep alive Ellsbury's surprising power surge. His slugging percentage is at .505. The past three years, that mark was .394, .415 and .244, respectively.
End 3rd, Red Sox 5-3: John Lackey worked around a single in the third with his second, third and fourth strikeouts of the game.
Lackey used a slider to get all three strikeouts, two of them swinging and one looking.
Matt Joyce singled with one out and stole second, but gets left right there.
Lackey threw 19 pitches in that inning. None were pure fastballs.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 5-3: Looks like we've got another slugfest on our hands.
James Shields clearly doesn't have the same stuff that mystified the Red Sox here a month ago. He offered up very little resistance in the third, coughing up the lead in a matter of moments.
Adrian Gonzalez, who is 5-for-8 against Shields, led off with a walk. Kevin Youkilis followed with a single to improve to 4-for-36 (.111) vs. the righty. David Ortiz then ripped a two-run double into the right-center field gap to improve to 13-for-38 (.342) against Shields.
Then, J.D. Drew doubled to right to bump his mark to 13-for-40 (.325) vs. Shields and score Ortiz.
Not sure why I put in all those numbers — just thought the contrasts were interesting between Youkilis and the rest of the crew.
Shields rallied to get the next three hitters, but he won't be long for this one.
End 2nd, Rays 3-2: Double plays are always nice to get. When your pitcher has allowed six hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings, the bases are loaded, the bullpen is busy and a .341 hitter is up, they are pure gold.
John Lackey has to be elated with getting Casey Kotchman to ground to Dustin Pedroia to start the 4-6-3 twin killing. Randy Williams was already up and warming in the pen after Lackey gave up two singles and a walk.
As bad an inning as Marco Scutaro had in the first, he had a pretty nice relay back to first on the DP, leaping over Ben Zobrist to get the throw off. It helps that Kotchman can't run a lick.
Mid 2nd, Rays 3-2: Josh Reddick was a mere millimeter or two from being a strikeout victim after barely catching a piece of a James Shields pitch on a 3-2 offering.
Shields tried to come back in with a cutter that got way too much of the plate, and Reddick crushed it. His third home run, a two-run shot because Jarrod Saltalamacchia had walked, cleared the stands in right.
If there wasn't a wall out there, it would've rolled to the ocean.
That's Reddick's third home run of the season and his 11th extra-base hit in 25 games with the Sox, many of which he did not start. His average is up to .397.
End 1st, Rays 3-0: John Lackey is known for showing his frustration on the mound, sometimes with his own fielders. One might not blame him for giving Marco Scutaro the glare after the way things went in the first, although Scutaro may be hurt.
Lackey got Johnny Damon to ground to Scutaro to start things off. Scutaro appeared to jam a finger guiding the ball into his glove, and threw wild to first for an error. He later saw the trainer to take a look at his index finger.
Ben Zobrist then singled up the middle and Casey Kotchman followed with another grounder up the middle that Scutaro knocked down. It was ruled a hit, but Scutaro would tell you that he should've had it. That scored the first run and upped Kotchman's average to .341.
Lackey then got another grounder to short, this time to Scutaro's right. He fielded and threw wild to second. It would've been extremely difficult to turn two, but it took Dustin Pedroia's great play on the throw to just get one. That didn't help, and left runners at the corners with just one out.
Another single to right and then one to left brought in two more runs, but only one of the four hits came on a line. Lackey sometimes seems to make excuses. Nobody would blame him for not giving the Rays much credit there. Grounders just found holes or found Scutaro, and both led to issues.
Lackey finally escaped when he got Sam Fuld to hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Scutaro's relay to first was just fine.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Oh no! The Home Run Derby totally messed up Adrian Gonzalez!
The misguided theory persists as Gonzalez falls to 0-for-5 since the break after striking out on three straight pitches from James Shields, the last a beautiful curve that Gonzalez merely waved at.
It turns out to be a huge out in the inning. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with an infield hit before moving to second on Dustin Pedroia's chopper to the right side.
With two outs, Kevin Youkilis was hit by a pitch for the 11th time this year. David Ortiz then rocketed one up the middle, but the shortstop was in perfect position just barely on the right side of the second base bag. He fielded and stepped on second for the final out.
4:10 p.m.: James Shields' first pitch to Jacoby Ellsbury is a ball and we are under way in this meeting between two of the eight teams in major league baseball with at least 50 wins.
3:40 p.m.: The Yankees enter the ninth inning in Toronto leading 4-1. CC Sabathia picking them up off the floor once again.
That would move New York back within a game pending Boston's result later on. It doesn't mean too much now, but when you're playing the Rays, who are five games back in third place, the standings enter the spotlight.
Tampa Bay hosts New York for four straight after the Sox leave town, so things could look rather different in a week or so.
BTW, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com, Jenks' stay on the DL is retroactive to July 8. He could return in about a week if he is feeling OK.
2:27 p.m.: With Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz on the sideline and with Josh Beckett coming off a knee injury, the work by John Lackey becomes even more important.
And what made Lackey valuable last season, even if some of the numbers were not great, was his ability to be out there every fifth day. Although he had a DL stint earlier in the year and presumably is still bothered by something in his right elbow, Lackey has a chance to be that model of dependability again.
I know that sounds nuts, but just bear with me. After this start today, Lackey will be third on the team in starts and innings pitched. If Lester takes more time than expected to return, Lackey will close in on him for second in those categories. Hard to imagine, isn't it?
Not saying that all those innings have been effective for Lackey. Far from it. But he did lead the 2010 team in starts, quality starts and innings pitched. That was key. When the rest of the rotation is struggling to stay healthy, that kind of a pitcher becomes even more important, and if Lackey can look anything like he did his last time out, he'll go from being everyone's punching bag to one of the more important members of this team.
There are a lot of "ifs" in that statement. But it is possible that a guy most wanted to cast off could end up holding down the staff if the injuries to others continue to be an issue.
In his effort to establish some sort of consistency, Lackey will face this lineup today:
Johnny Damon, DH
Ben Zobrist, 2B
Casey Kotchman, 1B
Evan Longoria, 3B
Matt Joyce, RF
B.J. Upton, CF
Sam Fuld, LF
Kelly Shoppach, C
Reid Brignac, SS
The first three hitters are a combined 25-for-73 (.342) against Lackey. The next six are 13-for-61 (.213).
1:01 p.m.: Word out of St. Pete is that Bobby Jenks is going on the disabled list once again. That would be his third visit to "The List," this time reportedly with back tightness.
That was the same injury that landed him on the DL in June. Seems as if Jenks just cannot get right, and we could see him out an extended period of time so that the team can ensure this does not happen again.
Just like Andrew Miller's start last night, this could alter the scope of things as the trade deadline approaches. It also further enhances the value of Matt Albers.
Randy Williams, a lefty who has pitched in 90 games in the majors with four organizations, is up from Pawtucket to take Jenks' place on the roster, according to the reports.
12:20 p.m.: The last time the Red Sox faced James Shields, he made them look overmatched.
Here is the crew that will try to turn that around this afternoon at Tropicana Field:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Josh Reddick, LF
Marco Scutaro, SS
The red-hot Pedroia is a .382 (13-for-34) hitter against Shields with a pair of homers. Ortiz is at .333 (12-for-36) with three home runs. Youkilis is at .086 (3-for-35) with 11 strikeouts. Quite a contrast.
8 a.m.: John Lackey ended a rocky first half on a positive note. He will attempt to pick up where he left off when he leads the Red Sox into a Saturday afternoon matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Lackey yielded just three hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings against Baltimore prior to the All-Star break. It snapped a personal three-game losing streak for the righty, who is 11-4 in his career against the Rays.
There may be a slight degree of pressure on Lackey to give the club a solid start. Although the Red Sox had four days of rest during the break, they were forced to use four relievers in the series opener after Andrew Miller lasted just 2 2/3 innings.
Also, looming on the other side is James Shields, who threw a five-hit shutout the last time he faced Boston on June 14.
Shields will throw his first pitch at 4:10 p.m.
