Lackey's Return Continues

Well, tonight the Hose hosted the only team farther away from them geographically than the Halos. The Pads came to town from the last outpost before you hit the border in California. Continuing his return from Tommy John surgery, Lackey pitched a very god eight innings. He allowed a single run, a solo shot by the Pads' Guzman. This obviously was a mistake, given that it's Guzman's 4th of the year and he only has 14 RBI's (including this one) and now is hitting just .226. Aside from that, though, the Sox hurler was excellent. He allowed just six hits and a walk, while picking up six K's. His WHIP for the game was a minuscule 0.875--pretty impressive.
Offensively, the Hose at the same time spread the wealth while concentrating most of it among four players, each of whom had a twofer. No HR's, but among the nine Sox hits were dubs from Papi, Gomes and Snyder, the last coming with the bases loaded and opening a three zip lead for the Sox at the time. Jake added his 33d steal to his pair of hits, and in doing so, extended his lead in swipes for both the AL and MLB overall. Trailing in the latter is a member of the Pads. Speaking of swipes, Pedro Ciriaco (remember him?) got a pair against Lackey, giving him six on the year in the NL.
With tonight's win, coupled with a loss by the Birds, the Sox lead is now up to 3.5 in the Division. The Stripes game isn't yet over, but, judging by the score after 7.5 innings, it's over. Mr. Hankie's Yankees are pounding on the Twinkies by a total of 7-1. If it holds, that will leave them still six in arrears of the Sox.