Los Angeles @ Boston preview
Fenway Park
Last Meeting ( May 4, 2010 ) LA Angels 1, Boston 5
Forgive the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim if they feel a bit nostalgic when John Lackey takes the mound on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
Lackey’s presence, particularly in a Boston uniform, will be a stark reminder of what Los Angeles is missing. And if the Angels have shown anything so far this season, it is that they are missing plenty.
Wednesday's game comes exactly one month after the season opener for the Angels, who have stumbled out of the gate with a 12-16 record and are trying to end a five-game losing streak.
It is games such as this when Los Angeles felt confident putting the ball in Lackey’s hand, secure in the knowledge that he would come up big in a spot when the slumping team needed him most.
Instead, the Angels will be seeking their first win on this current 10-game road trip, and to do so they’ll need to solve Lackey, who signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the Red Sox in the offseason.
Lackey pitched the first eight years of his career on the West Coast, posting double-digit victory totals in all but his rookie season with the Angels.
The 31-year-old right-hander was a model of consistency for Los Angeles, making 33 starts in five consecutive seasons and becoming one of just six major league pitchers who won at least 11 games from 2004-09.
Of course, one pitcher does not a team make, and the Angels can take some consolation in the fact that Lackey is not exactly lighting it up on the East Coast.
Through his first five starts with Boston, Lackey is 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA. And while he has given the team innings, pitching at least six in four of his five outings, he has surrendered 16 runs and 32 hits in his last 24 innings.
That’s not exactly the bang for their bucks expected by the Red Sox, who remain one game under .500 despite taking the first two of this four-game set against Los Angeles.
Lackey isn’t the only pitcher who will be facing his former teammates on Wednesday.
Joel Pineiro (2-3) will be back on the mound at Fenway, although his career with the Red Sox was hardly as long and certainly not as distinguished as Lackey’s tenure was with the Angels.
In 2007, Pineiro made 31 relief appearances for Boston before he was shipped to St. Louis, where he managed to resurrect his flagging career.
Pineiro won two of his first three starts this season but his performances have taken a marked dip in his last two outings. He has been rocked for 16 runs and 21 hits in 9 1/3 innings – a trend that cannot continue if the Angels hope to end their skid.