Lackey beats old team as Red Sox use late surge

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lackey returned to his former stomping grounds and pitched 7 1/3 quality innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 win over the Angels in the middle installment of a three-game series.

Lackey (10-5), who pitched for the Angels for his entire eight-year career before inking a free agent contract with Boston in the offseason, allowed two runs on seven hits for the Red Sox, who have won two straight games and four of six overall. Jed Lowrie hit a two-run double and Adrian Beltre added a key RBI in the victory.

Josh Beckett is scheduled to make his second start following a lengthy stint on the disabled list in Wednesday's series finale, when the Sox will attempt to sweep the Angels for the second time this season.

Bobby Abreu hit a solo home run and finished with two RBI for the struggling Angels, who have dropped three straight and six of their last seven games.

Jered Weaver started on the hill for Los Angeles and was very strong through six scoreless innings, but suffered the loss. Weaver (9-7) exited after seven full frames and ended with a line which showed two runs allowed on six hits with eight strikeouts.

The Angels scored the game's first run in the third inning. Maicer Izturis reached first on a fielder's choice, moved to third on a single by Alberto Callaspo and scored when Abreu doubled.

Weaver struck out the side in the fourth and got three straight outs in the fifth after Darnell McDonald led off the frame with a double. After another easy 1-2-3 effort in the top of the sixth, the Red Sox finally reached Weaver in the seventh.

McDonald worked a two-out walk in the seventh before a single by Marco Scutaro put runners on the corners. Lowrie then stepped to the plate and drilled a double to the wall in left field for a 2-1 Boston advantage.

"It got away from me in the seventh. I wish it was a different outcome," Weaver said. "I can only do what I can do and we came up a little short."

The visitors gained an important insurance run in the seventh via Beltre's RBI double.

"I felt strong and executed pitches," Lackey said. "I heard the boos. It is what it is. Weave has come into his own. He's one of the top pitchers in the league. For us to get runs off him late, gives our team a confidence boost."

Abreu drilled his 12th homer of the year to right field with one out in the eighth, and the blast marked the end of Lackey's night. Daniel Bard then entered from the bullpen. Bard struck out Torii Hunter and forced Mike Napoli to fly out.

In the top of the ninth, an errant throw on a grounder to second base allowed Scutaro to score for a two-run lead before Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth for his 24th save of the campaign.

Game Notes

Boston right fielder J.D. Drew was scratched from the starting lineup due to tightness in his left hamstring...The BoSox also swept the Angels in a four- game series at Fenway Park in early May...Weaver has lost four of his starts, while Lackey halted a four-start winless skid.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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