The skies opened up Tuesday night over Boston and continued to rain throughout Wednesday morning causing the Red Sox and Rays game to be postponed. And with it comes even better news. Because of the extra day off, John Lackey will skip his spot in the rotation. Â
It was released late Wednesday afternoon that Lackey will miss his regular start which was supposed to be tonight against Tampa Bay. But with the rain out causing a two day break for the Red Sox, Lackey and his struggling arsenal of pitches will get even more rest, meaning he won’t take the mound until next Tuesday in Oakland.
The big $82.5 million dollar starting pitcher that the Red Sox signed as a free agent during the 2009 off season, has been anything but effective in his two starts this season. He’s 1-1 with an ERA of 15.58. Through 8.2 innings of work, he’s surrendered 17 hits and 15 earned runs.
So now with Lackey missing a turn, the Red Sox will turn to the 3 pitcher’s who have shown promise so far this year; Clay Buchholz gets the ball Friday night, Josh Beckett on Saturday and Jon Lester on Sunday. Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to pitch on Monday in the series finale against Toronto, but let’s all hope that Terry Francona has a golden beam of light shining through his window on Sunday night and he decides to go with veteran Tim Wakefield instead. I thought I’d keep it short, so I won’t get into Dice-K. For more on his woes, check out our lead writer Brian’s post on Dice-K.
It looks promising to have Buchholz, Beckett and Lester throw in three straight games as all three have turned out dominant outings their last time out. And as for Lackey not making a start until the Oakland series? Well that’s not all bad if history serves us right. According to Peter Abraham, Lackey is 17-5 with a 2.90 ERA in 31 lifetime starts against Oakland. But this season has shown us that history doesn’t always repeat itself either.
None the less, this one happy Red Sox fan to see Lackey skip a turn. He can use the extra rest to work on more than a couple of things. So here’s to Lackey and the best of luck on Tuesday in his next start……and also, here’s to the rain that forced the game to be postponed.
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