It was a train wreck. Balls hit hard onto & over the Monster. Balls hit softly & finding holes. Players unable to make plays. And John Lackey was in the middle of the whole debacle.
Before 3 innings were over the Sox were beaten into submission 7-0 by the Jays. Maybe the Jays are looking to return the favor to the Sox who crushed them in the Rogers Centre earlier this year. To the Sox credit, however, they battled back to make it an interesting game, losing in the end 9-7. Good news is that the Yankees & Rays also lost yesterday.
With Clay Buchholz off this week to get a 2nd opinion on his ailing back it appears that Francona is stuck with at least one more start by Lackey against the Orioles before the All-Star break. What happens after that?
About the only short-range option is to have Aceves & Lackey trade places in the rotation & bullpen. Long-term is for Lackey to get back to a middle-of-the-rotation, Tim Wakefield kind of guy, giving up 4 or 5 runs over 6 to 7 innings & giving your team a chance to win. If he can't be that guy, maybe Felix Doubront or Kevin Millwood get a chance to start.
We have no Dice-K for the rest of the year. We have no Buchholz for the month of July. And we have a questionnable John Lackey at present. Who would have "thunk" in Spring Training that 3 of your 5 starters would be out with injury or underperforming?
Starting pitching, a perceived strength this year, is becoming a real problem.
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