BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
 2013 ALCS, GAME #3
John Lackey outduels Justin Verlander

October 14, 2013 ... No game scheduled. 

October 15, 2013 ... The Red Sox are managing the stress of this exhilarating American League Championship Series by somehow finding a way to be in front through the first three games.  Game 3 was, just like its two predecessors, a heart-stopper.

John Lackey is the poster boy for Team Redemption.   Nobody was more loathed coming into this season. Lackey got blamed for chicken and beer. He got blamed for Theo Epstein's bloated payroll.  He was blamed for the collapse of 2011.  He's snarled at the media.  Fans wanted him out of town ASAP.  Folks didn't like the way Lackey showed up his fielders and his manager.  In 2011, Lackey had the worst season (6.41 ERA) of any Sox starter in history. 

It was so bad that Lackey was questioned just for being in the dugout last year.  Lackey spent 2012 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and there was chatter about why the Sox would even have him around.   He was overpaid, overweight, churlish, and a bad example for the Sox' young pitchers.  His five-year, $82.5 million contract, signed in December of 2009, signified the beginning of the decay of the Red Sox. Lackey was the symbol of throwing money at problems, putting TV ratings and instant gratification ahead of scouting and player development.

Now everything has changed, and at Comerica Park, Lackey had his finest hour in a Red Sox uniform. He beat the Detroit Tigers, 1-0.  He outpitched Justin Verlander, a former Cy Young Award winner and Most Valuable Player.  Lackey allowed four hits and zero walks, fanning eight before he was lifted (against his will) by manager John Farrell with two out and one aboard in the seventh.

It came down to a fierce effort by Lackey and a clutch solo homer by Mike Napoli in the top of the seventh to give the Sox a  2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Though this win was very much a group effort, Lackey stood out. Perceived as the underdog in a matchup with Justin Verlander, the Sox righty earned the win and his teammates loved watching him come up big in this one.  Not to mention the bullpen, which was never bigger than in the eighth inning.

Perhaps the most crucial at-bat of the game was when Tazawa struck out Miguel Cabrera with runners at first and third and one out.  And Uehara, en route to a four-out save, snuffed out the rest of that eighth-inning threat by striking out Prince Fielder.

As it turns out, all Lackey needed was a run.  Mike Napoli ended the scoreless duel when he unloaded for a homer to left-center with one out in the seventh. The long ball came on Verlander's 100th pitch of the day, a 96-mph heater, and it was Napoli's first homer of this postseason.  Napoli is known as one of the Red Sox' key grinders at the plate, often working pitchers to high counts and higher frustration.  Napoli ultimately worked the count full, and then drove Verlander's pitch over the wall in left.

To say Lackey outpitched Verlander would probably be a stretch. Instead, he essentially pitched him to a draw, with Napoli's homer swinging the game in his favor.  Aside from that one misfire, Verlander was pretty much his vintage self, allowing four hits and a run while walking one and striking out 10 over eight innings. Verlander lived up to his bulldog reputation, throwing 120 pitches.  The solo homer by Verlander marks the only run he has given up in his three starts in this postseason.

This game started just like the previous two: with a Tigers starting pitcher manhandling the Red Sox bats. This time it was Verlander. He had a no-hitter through 4 2/3 innings before Gomes broke it up with an infield hit that shortstop Jhonny Peralta couldn't make a clean play on.  It was the third time in as many games in this series that the Red Sox took until the fifth inning or later to get their first hit.

Perhaps the Red Sox will start scoring at some point. In the meantime, they will be forced to rely on their ability to grind through.  Detroit's first three starters (Sanchez Scherzer and Verlander) have all but shackled the Red Sox, allowing only two runs over 21 innings while holding them to an .087 batting average (6 for 69) and sending Boston batters back to the dugout 35 times on strikeouts.  Through three games, two of which have been 1-0, the Red Sox are outscoring the Tigers 7-6.

The game was delayed for 17 minutes because of a power outage to start the bottom of the second inning.  A preliminary investigation by DTE Energy, a Detroit-based diversified energy company, discovered that a cable failure near the stadium was at fault.

David Ortiz played in his 64th postseason game for the Sox, a franchise record. He had been tied with Jason Varitek.  The Red Sox had several young players working out at their complex in Florida in case they were needed but they were allowed to go home. 

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