|
John Lackey (9-5, 4.36) spent his entire career as an Angel, before coming to Boston as a free agent this past offseason. On May 5th, he faced his former club for the first time, but did so at Fenway Park. Lackey was sharp in that game, allowing 1 run on 2 hits (1 HR) and 2 walks through 7 innings in a 3-1 victory. Since then he's had some ups and downs, but Lackey should feel right at home in Angel Stadium, where he is 49-32 with a 3.72 ERA in his career.
Last time out, Lackey dominated the Mariners, taking a no-hitter into the 8th inning, but Delcarmen imploded and cost him a shot at his 10th win of the season. The Red Sox will be hoping Lackey picks up where he left off as they attempt to catch the Rays in the Wild Card race.
The Angels will counter with their new ace Jared Weaver (9-6, 3.22). Weaver leads the majors with 147 strikeouts, but sits at 9 wins thanks to poor run support from the Halos. In his last start, he held the Rangers to 3 runs through 6 innings, but was out-pitched by Cliff Lee. Weaver is 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA in 8 starts against Boston, but he hasn't faced us this season. He did however, kill us in three 2009 appearances:
4/10 - 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 UER, 8 K, W
5/12 - 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 K, ND
10/9 - 7.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 K, W (ALDS)
This years he's been far better at home (4-1, 1.80, 9 GS) than he has on the road (5-5, 4.38, 12 GS), so the Sox will have their work cut out for them. Lackey hasn't been great on the road this year (2-3, 4.47, 9 GS), but Anaheim probably still feels like home to him and you know he'll be pumped up for this game.
Key Matchups
Most Angels haven't had to hit Lackey, but Hideki Matsui has. Godzilla is 8 for 31 (.258) but does have a homer against Lackey... he also has 4 ding dongs in his last 6 games and is coming off of a 2-hit game last night.
Ortiz, Youk, Drew and Martinez are all hitting above .300 against Weaver and Youk and Ortiz have each taken him deep twice... but the 2010 Weaver is not the same guys we've seen in the past. He's holding lefties to a .209 BA this season, so I'm going with Youk tonight, who's hitting .358/.967 in 81 July at-bats.
|
but does have a homer against Lackey... he also has 4 ding dongs in his last 6 games and is coming off of a 2-hit game last night.
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 