Lackey tosses gem as Red Sox steal Game 3
DETROIT – The script is getting familiar, the one the Boston Red Sox used for a 1-0 victory Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers to take a 2-1 lead in the American League Championship Series.
It's not the one that has dominated the dissection of the series so far: That the Detroit starting pitchers overwhelm the Boston batters. And that the game hinges on which version of the Tigers bullpen shows up.
GAME 3: Power outage delays game 17 minutes
Sure, Justin Verlander seemed to be doing just that until Mike Napoli's seventh-inning homer stunned Verlander and a city that has come to expect perfection from the 2011 AL MVP.
But Red Sox starter and winner John Lackey provided an emphatic reminder it's time to realize the Boston rotation — with a little less flash, hype and certainly less drama — is the one keeping these games close enough to swing the series.
"Pretty big one, I guess," Lackey said in his understated Texas drawl. "I knew I was going to have to pitch pretty good."
Don't be fooled. He's anything but "aw, shucks."
"John takes angry pills before he pitches," said Jake Peavy, Boston's starter in Game4 against Detroit's Doug Fister today (8:07 p.m. ET). "I think he was working on a couple more during the delay."
Indeed, Lackey's outing was disrupted by a 17-minute power outage just as he was taking the mound in the second. Appropriate enough, as he provided zero wattage on a pitching marquee dominated by Detroit's Verlander after dominant starts by Anibal Sanchez and Max Scherzer.
"It's been funny for me to watch all the coverage," Peavy said before the game. "I have heard John Lackey's name mentioned three or four times — almost like we didn't have a starter going. Our starter is pretty good, too."
The best yet for Boston, for whom good enough has been relative.
Jon Lester allowed one run in 61/3 innings in Game 1 and lost.
Clay Buchholz was knocked out in a five-run sixth in Game 2 and the Red Sox won.
Lackey left no question — nobody has yet figured out how to lose a shutout.
"It's definitely the biggest game I've pitched (for the Red Sox)," said Lackey, who signed a five-year, $82.5million contract with Boston before 2010, went 26-23 with a 5.23 ERA the first two years, then missed last season after elbow surgery.
He was 10-13 this year, but the ERA dropped to 3.52. Still, Lackey hadn't held any team scoreless since a seven-inning effort May 24 against the Cleveland Indians.
BREAKDOWN: The pivotal moment of Game 3
He didn't get to finish the seventh this time, leaving with one more angry-pill glare when manager John Farrell took him out with two outs and a runner on first. And Farrell was right about his bullpen again.
The game came down to an eighth-inning sequence when Junichi Tazawa struck out all-world slugger Miguel Cabrera with runners on first and third and one out, then closer Koji Uehara whiffed Prince Fielder.
Until the seventh, Detroit had runners on base in two innings — the first and fifth — and both times Lackey showed the big-game capability to leave a runner on third. He struck out eight and didn't walk anyone.
"Johnny's a stud," Peavy said. "Anybody as a rookie that wins Game 7 of the World Series (2002 for the Angels), you can't get any bigger of a stage. We understand what kind of challenge we have against Justin Verlander, it's no secret. But there ain't any part of John Lackey that doesn't think he's going to win."
He won thanks to the first run against Verlander after 34 scoreless innings, dating to Sept.18.
Napoli has hit one other memorable homer in virtually the identical spot. It was his first major league at-bat May4, 2006 — against Verlander.
"I was here for that first homer, too," Lackey said. "I said we have to keep that dude. Keep him around."
They were Angels teammates then and have been friends since, but Lackey was just chilling in the dugout that day. This time, he benefited from the series' latest turning point.
It came on Verlander's 100th pitch, and it came from Napoli, who was struggling mightily with two hits and 10 strikeouts in 19 playoff at-bats.
It had gotten so bad for Napoli that manager John Farrell was defending keeping his first baseman in the middle of the lineup because he grinds out long at-bats, leading the AL in pitches per plate appearance.
In typical Napoli fashion, the home run came on a 3-2 pitch.
Verlander had struck out Napoli in his two previous at-bats Tuesday.
"Threw me four sliders, which he's never done before," Napoli said.
Verlander threw him two more in the seventh inning.
"I took them really well," he said. "I feel the more pitches I see, the better for me. I felt confident when I took those two sliders."
Spit on them, to use the players' vernacular. Then sit on the fastball.
And sit just a little bit prettier heading into Game 4.
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