Throwing Grounders

That was just what John Lackey was doing at Fenway on Wednesday night. 13 Angels grounded out in what was Lackey's best game with the Red Sox so far, against his former club.

David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre both hit home runs as the Red Sox cruised to their third straight win over the Halos, 3-1. Papi also had a walk and single on the night, in a nice bounce back from his awful night on Tuesday.

Lackey allowed just a Brandon Wood homer in the fifth and one other single in the second, the only inning he was in any trouble. The Angels loaded the bases but did not score. He went seven solid frames.

L.A. nearly turned a triple play in the second, when Jeremy Hermida lined back to pitcher Joel Piniero, who fired to second to double off Ortiz, and the throw to first nearly got Beltre, who just got back. (If Kendry Morales hadn't been congratulating himself on catching the ball and had stayed with Beltre, who actually fell off the bag, he would have tagged him and they would have turned the TP.)

Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon were flawless in the final two innings, and Pap nailed down his 8th save. The Red Sox are back to .500, at 14-14.

The game marked Terry Francona's 1000th regular season game as manager of the Sox, and it was his 579th win, for a winning percentage of .579 (and I didn't need a calculator to figure that one out).

There was also a bomb threat at Fenway Park at 5 PM, but that proved to be baseless.

And of course, it was the night to honor Nomar Garciaparra, and he was presented with a few gifts before the game. I was able to catch the festivities on NESN on the MLB package before the game began, and it was also good to see old friends such as Trot Nixon and Brian Daubach in the house to honor their old buddy.

Nicely done, Sox.