Two pitches cause trouble for Angel's Lackey

BOSTON -- By the time John Lackey pitched well at Fenway Park, it was too late.

The American League ERA champion allowed four runs over the first three innings Wednesday night, then gave up just one hit in the next three.

The result, though, was all too familiar: Another loss in Boston as the Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 in the opener of the AL division series.

The way Josh Beckett was pitching, two pitches by Lackey that caught too much of the plate were too many. David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis hit them for homers.

"I really think I pitched better than the numbers are going to show," Lackey said. "I missed location in the first inning on the homer and missed with Ortiz. Other than that, I'm not that disappointed with it. The margin of error wasn't really high."

Beckett was 20-7 and the only pitcher with more wins than Lackey (19-9). The Red Sox ace allowed just four hits and retired 19 consecutive batters after Chone Figgins led off the game with a single. Beckett struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter.

"I really didn't watch what he was doing," Lackey said. "I was just trying to handle my own business. I managed to find a few things throughout the game that started to work a little bit better for me, but it was too late because he was pitching so well."

Lackey gave up four runs and nine hits, walked two and struck out four, remarkably similar numbers to his only win against Boston. He allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings at Fenway on July 30, 2006, striking out six and walking two. The difference was Boston starter Curt Schilling allowed six runs in five innings and the Angels won 10-4.

"He pitched pretty good" Wednesday, said Mike Lowell, who tagged Lackey for an RBI single in the third. "Take away the long ball. He was able to grind it out for them. It's not like things got out of hand. They only used two pitchers."

Lackey already had made postseason history when he became the first rookie since 1909 to win Game 7 of a World Series in 2002 against the San Francisco Giants.

His ERA this year was 3.01, but put him against the Red Sox and he's a different pitcher.

His loss Wednesday dropped his career record against Boston to 1-7. At Fenway Park, he is 1-5.

This season, he was 0-2 with an 8.38 ERA in two appearances against Boston, both at Fenway. Take those games away and he was 19-7 for the season with a 2.77 ERA.

But he said he's not uncomfortable at Fenway against Boston's strong lineup.

"They get to a lot of people," Lackey said. "That's why we're playing them right now. With Beckett pitching that way, it's going to be tough to hold down that kind of lineup with not getting much from your side."

Lackey won his last three regular-season outings. He gave up just three runs in 22 innings in that stretch and allowed two hits in seven innings in his last game, a 2-0 win over Oakland.

But he had a rough start Wednesday.

After retiring leadoff man Dustin Pedroia on a groundout, Lackey gave up a homer to Youkilis, the first postseason hit of his career. Singles by Ortiz and Manny Ramirez put runners at first and second, but Lackey escaped when he retired Lowell on an infield popup and J.D. Drew on a grounder.

"Early in the game, getting early count strikes was tough," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "It's too good of an offense for you to be behind as he was. As the game went on, he started to get ahead."

Lackey allowed two more hits in the second -- singles by Jason Varitek and Julio Lugo -- but Coco Crisp hit into a double play and Lugo was caught stealing.

The right-hander got the Red Sox to hit into another double play in the third, but that ended an inning in which Boston already had scored three runs to take a 4-0 lead.

Lackey retired Pedroia leading off then was hurt again by Youkilis, who doubled. Ortiz followed with a two-run homer to right, his ninth in postseason play, tying Varitek's franchise record.

Ramirez then walked, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Lowell's single.

Lackey finally settled down in the fourth and got four of his last nine outs on strikeouts.

"He had good stuff," Los Angeles catcher Mike Napoli said. "He's a competitor. I would have him any day here. It just happens he doesn't pitch well here, but I'd take him any day."