John Lackey became the latest Boston Red Sox starter to baffle the Los Angeles Angels.
Lackey tossed eight shutout innings as the Red Sox swept a four-game series from the hosts with a 7-0 victory on Sunday afternoon.
Boston’s pitchers were dominant throughout the set, holding the Angels to five total runs and extending a streak to nine games where a Red Sox starter lasted at least six innings and allowed fewer than three runs.
Lackey (1-2) struck out six, walked one and allowed just one runner past second base all afternoon.
The Red Sox got the early jump on Los Angeles starter Matt Palmer (1-1), pushing across three runs in the first inning. Adrian Gonzalez had an RBI double and David Ortiz added an RBI single in the frame.
Boston led 4-0 in the sixth when Carl Crawford belted his first homer of the season with a two-run shot. Crawford had two hits and raised his batting average to .171.
Los Angeles’ woes at the plate continued as Torii Hunter, Vernon Wells and Bobby Abreu combined to go 1-for-9 on Sunday.
After starting the season 0-7, the Red Sox have now won seven of their last eight contests and are 5-1 on their current nine game road trip.
Boston | LA Angels | |
John Lackey | Player | Matt Palmer |
Win | W/L | Loss |
8.0 | IP | 5.0 |
6 | Strikeouts | 2 |
6 | Hits | 6 |
0.00 | ERA | 7.20 |
Boston | LA Angels | |
Adrian Gonzalez | Player | Peter Bourjos |
3 | Hits | 2 |
2 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
4 | TB | 2 |
.600 | Avg | .667 |