BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
The Red Sox rally past the
Orioles behind Lackey

June 15, 2013 ... John Lackey found himself in big trouble after 12 pitches. The first four Orioles batters got hits, which gave them two runs.  The Orioles also had two runners on and appeared about to break the game open quickly.  However, Lackey avoided further damage by retiring the next three batters.  He surrendered just three more hits in a solid seven-inning effort that gave Boston's offense time to rally for a 5-4 victory before 42,422 at Camden Yards.

Lackey (4-5, 3.08 ERA) shut down the Orioles after that rocky first inning. He needed 24 pitches to labor through that frame but allowed no more runs and only three singles in his final six innings of work.  Lackey then escaped trouble again in the fifth. Taylor Teagarden singled and went to third when Pedroia committed his first error of the year when he booted a Nate McLouth grounder. Saltalamacchia then threw out McLouth trying to steal, and Lackey got the next two batters. That looked even bigger in the following inning when Gomes crushed a 1-2 splitter from Garcia for a one-out solo homer and a 5-2 lead. The Orioles rallied against closer Andrew Bailey in the ninth when Matt Wieters hit a two-run homer, but Ryan Flaherty later lined into a game-ending double play to give Bailey his eighth save.

The Boston offense was able to rebound from the early two-run deficit thanks to the power of Mike Carp and Jonny Gomes plus some other timely hitting. After going 18 1/3 innings without scoring a run dating back to Thursday's 5-4 loss in 13 innings, the Red Sox were due to bust out, and they finally did.  Carp's two-run homer and Stephen Drew's RBI double gave the Red Sox three runs off Baltimore starter Freddy Garcia (3-4) in the fourth. Boston never trailed again.

One of the keys in that inning came when Dustin Pedroia swung at a 2-2 Garcia pitch and appeared to strike out. That would have been the second out, but home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson ruled it a foul tip, and Pedroia singled moments later and scored on Carp's game-tying homer.

Carp's been at first in much of this series due to the illness that's sidelined Mike Napoli (dizziness, grogginess). The homer was Carp's second of the series, and he said the Red Sox weren't worried about the long scoreless streak.  Carp ended the game hitting .320 with eight homers and 25 RBI in 103 at-bats. He has a 1.052 OPS and a .680 slugging percentage, which is second behind Chris Davis's .695 among players with 100 or more plate appearances.  Upon his trade to Boston, Carp had a poor spring training with the bat, but he was on the Red Sox' 40-man roster. So the Sox made the decision to keep him over Lyle Overbay, who opted out of his contract and signed with the Yankees.

Pedroia had gone 97 consecutive games without an error, one shy of matching his own team record. Lackey said the ball going through the second baseman's legs was one of the more surprising things he's even seen on a baseball field.

Jose Iglesias had an infield single in the third inning, his 12th of the season. He was 1 for 3 with a walk, raising his on-base percentage to .495. Iglesias nearly had another infield hit when he grounded a ball behind the bag at third base in the fourth inning. But he stumbled coming out of the box. Iglesias has hit safely in 16 consecutive games, tying Miami's Marcell Ozuna for the longest streak for a rookie this season. Iglesias is hitting .447.

This victory ended Boston's five-game losing streak in Baltimore. The Red Sox improved to 42-28 and now have a 2 1/2-game lead over the Orioles (39-30) in the American League East.

Clay Buchholz has once again been pushed back because of a sore trapezius on his right side. The righthander told the Sox he does not feel ready to throw in the bullpen and as a result will not start on Tuesday.  Buchholz last pitched on June 8. The next step could be to place him on the disabled list retroactively to June 9.  Buchholz has made just one start since June 2. The longer he stays out, the more likely it becomes that he will need a rehab assignment before he returns to the majors.