The Blue Jays completed their two-game sweep of the Red Sox Wednesday, taking advantage of a terrible outing from John Lackey.
Simply put, John Lackey did nothing right against the Jays. There were no bright spots, no indication that things are getting better. He was not unlucky, nor was it just a good night for the Jays. When he threw strikes, they were the kind that begged to be hit. But about as often as not, he wasn’t throwing strikes—especially not when he needed to. It’s one thing to walk five batters, another entirely to have one of them come with the bases loaded.
The Red Sox offense, on the other hand, did have bright spots. While Jacoby Ellsbury’s hitting streak was snapped and Dustin Pedroia’s slump continues, Adrian Gonzalez went deep yet again, and almost managed a second one, bouncing a double off the wall in straight-away center. Also solid was Carl Crawford, who unlike Ellsbury managed to extend his streak to 11 games.
But at this point the focus is solely on John Lackey. After a solid second half of 2010, Lackey entered spring training 20 pounds lighter and, amidst the wash of good feelings in spring training, actually encouraged some optimism amongst the fanbase. But seven starts into the season and his ERA has ballooned over 8.00. The question is: how much longer can the Red Sox, sitting now at 17-20, live with Lackey in their rotation?