Today's game was the first I've been able to watch since moving deep into enemy territory (I'm in Syracuse, New York for the next year for graduate school), and it was a good one. I'll have to get used to the idiosyncrasies of MLB.tv, including complete silence during commercial breaks, and a slight lag behind the actual action, but overall it worked swimmingly.
John Lackey was fantastic, tossing seven full innings and striking out twelve Rockies en rout to his fifth win of the season. He allowed just two runs, scattering eight hits, and didn't give out any free passes, with no walks and no hit batsmen. This is the Lackey we were expecting and hoping for when the Red Sox signed him before the 2010 season, and if he can toss more gems like that one, I for one will forgive him for his part in the great Beer and Chicken Caper, as well as the lost season of 2012, when he was out recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Lackey's season ERA is down to 3.03, much better than the struggling Jon Lester, Felix Doubront, and Ryan Dempster. Of course, it's nowhere near as good as Clay Buchholz's best-in-the-majors 1.71 ERA, but a sparkling stat line is meaningless when you can't take the mound (however, that's an entirely separate issue for another post). For now, I'm content to revel in Lackey's beautiful performance, enjoy my newly installed internet access, and catch up on my blogging.
