Not a Thing of Beauty

John Lackey looked like he was reverting to that horrible form he showed in the loss to Tampa Bay on Patriot's Day when he surrendered four runs in the second tonight, after the Red Sox staked him to an early 2-0 lead.

But he was fortunate that Brandon Morrow of the Blue Jays was leading his own personal walk parade, and totally lost it in the bottom of the second. He walked five batters in the inning, including one with the bases loaded, and was gone, losing 6-4. The Sox only had one hit in the inning in getting the lead back, but that's all that was needed. Faulty Toronto defense certainly helped matters, as Aaron Hill threw away a perfect DP that would have ended the inning with Toronto still up, 4-3.

The Red Sox added another run in the third, and that was all Lackey needed. He went six innings, and gave up a two-run shot to Jose Bautista in the fifth. The bullpen took over from there, as Hideki Okajima, Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon were flawless in getting the 7-6 Red Sox win.

Good news on the injury front, as Mike Cameron began his rehab assignment at Pawtucket, going 1-for-3 as a DH. He may be back in the lineup for the Detroit series over the weekend.

Josh Beckett's next start has been pushed back two days, so Tim Wakefield will get the start Wednesday afternoon against the Blue Jays. Beckett will now open the series in Detroit on Friday night. But it was later reported that Beckett slightly injured his back in a batting cage on Monday as the pitchers were taking swings with interleague play coming up later this month. Terry Francona said that the decision to move him back two days had nothing to do with this, and Beckett will be re-evaluated on Tuesday.