Orange County Register

BOSTON - The Angels expressed confidence in having John Lackey take the mound in another potential elimination game tonight at Fenway Park.

“They’re up 2-1 but we’ve got our horse on the mound tomorrow,” Angels reliever Scot Shields said. “(Red Sox starter Jon) Lester pitched a great game in Game 1 but we like our chances.

“I know he (Lackey) was the biggest fan out there, hoping to get another chance at them.”

But Lackey’s history against the Red Sox - and at Fenway Park - is not great.

Counting two post-season starts (both losses), Lackey is 3-8 with a 5.36 ERA in 15 career starts against the Red Sox. In nine starts at Fenway Park (including Game 1 of last year’s ALDS), it’s even worse: 2-5 with a 6.30 ERA.

Thrown this in too - he hasn’t won a post-season start since another elimination game, Game 7 of the 2002 World Series.

But warm your hands on this, Angels fans. In Lackey’s most recent outing at Fenway Park, he nearly threw the first no-hitter by a visiting pitcher at Fenway Park in 50 years.

With the team buzzing over the acquisition of Mark Teixeira just before the game, Lackey took a no-hitter into the ninth inning at Fenway on July 29. He retired the first batter in the ninth before giving up two hits (the second a two-run home run by Kevin Youkilis).

The two-hit victory was the first complete-game victory by an Angels pitcher at Fenway Park since Chuck Finley on August 17, 1990.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.