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Red Sox pitcher John Lackey issued the following statement Tuesday:

"I apologize for my thoughtless choice of words that appeared in print earlier today. I meant no harm, and I am sorry to all I offended."

According to a column in Tuesday's Boston Globe, Lackey was asked whether he has a clear conscience about the goings-on in the Red Sox clubhouse during the 2011 season. Reports came out after the season of pitchers drinking beer in the clubhouse during games.

"Guys having a beer after their start has been going on for the last 100 years. This is retarded," Lackey is quoted as saying.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Takeaways from the Fort, where the green-clad Sox beat the Orioles, 7-4, in a split squad here while tying another batch of O's, 3-3, in 10 innings in Sarasota:

The Red Sox released pitcher Carlos Silva, who was coming off shoulder surgery and was shut down with shoulder inflammation this spring, taking him out of the competition for a starting spot here. GM Ben Cherington said the team elected to give Silva a chance to catch on with another club.

Cody Ross had a double and a home run, his first since hitting two in the college games, and Lars Anderson had a double and two-run single for the Sox in the Fort. Ross is hitting .450 this spring, Anderson .429.

Aaron Cook made his second spring appearance, giving up a hit in 3 1/3 scoreless innings against the Orioles in Sarasota.

"It's what I was looking for," Cook said upon his return to the Fort. "Groundball outs, and short innings. Four fly ball outs, one strikeout, rest were ground balls."

Cook has been hurt each of the last two seasons -- a broken leg in 2010, and a broken finger and an inflamed shoulder last season -- and was placed on a slower progression than the other pitchers in camp this spring. That's not a concern, he said.

"I don't worry about it," he said. "I threw three and a third today, they keep putting up innings and I'll just go out there and keep pitching. There are no issues."

Cook has a May 1 opt-out of his contract. "I want to start,'' said Cook, who pitched 10 seasons for the Rockies, winning a career-high 16 games in 2008, before signing a minor-league deal with the Red Sox. But if asked to go to the pen would he do so? "Definitely,'' he said.

Josh Beckett had an easy time of it Saturday, pitching against an Orioles team that had just one regular position player, Chris Davis (possibly two if you project Wilson Betemit as the team's DH). Beckett worked five innings in which he threw 59 pitches, an impressive 40 for strikes. Beckett gave up a run on two hits and a walk, striking out two. The game was completed in a snappy 2 hours 37 minutes, which should give you a sense of the pace at which he worked, and the results he achieved.

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BOSTON -- When asked what was wrong with pitcher John Lackey, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein did not roll his eyes or throw up his hands in disgust.

He simply acknowledged there are physical, mental and fundamental issues with the veteran right-hander and that the team will do everything it can to make sure the organization gets proper return on its five-year $82.5 million investment.

Lackey certainly hasn’t lived up to expectations over his first two seasons in Boston, and his on-field demeanor has drawn nearly as much attention as his poor production.

His numbers were not good in 2011 with a 12-12 record and a 6.41 ERA in 28 starts. He dealt with health and personal issues, and was brutal at the start of the season. He did turn it around in the second half, but fell apart again in September, along with the rest of the Red Sox pitching staff.

There have been plenty of times during his career with the Red Sox, especially this season, when Lackey has rolled his eyes and his body language has shown disgust, anger and frustration, seemingly showing up his teammates.

Players, and even Francona, said time and again this season that they weren’t bothered by it because Lackey is a great teammate. The manager reiterated that on Thursday.

“I don’t think we can put in a guy’s contract that if he’s going to make a certain amount of money, he can’t roll his eyes,” Francona said. “I don’t think guys in the clubhouse have a problem with Lack, nor do I. I think we certainly wish it had gone better on the mound, but I haven’t had a problem with Lack at all.”

Epstein admitted that fixing Lackey would be a priority this season.

“As far as rehabilitating John Lackey, I think it’s a big priority for obvious reasons and we have to attack it from a physical perspective and see if there are things we can do differently with him physically to put him in a better position to have success on the mound.

“We have to attack it from a fundamental standpoint. There are obviously things we can do differently with him fundamentally to get his stuff and his command back to where it was.

And then from a mental standpoint, and those are the three areas we attack with players. We’re going to leave no stone unturned, really with all of our players and the organization as a whole from those three standpoints.”

Epstein also addressed the body language issue, and he too did not sound overly concerned about it.

“I will say this about rolling his eyes and whatnot, that’s nothing new. John has always been emotional on the mound. He’s always been demonstrative. It kind of looks bad on the field, it looks as though he’s showing up his teammates. It was that way in Anaheim, too.

“It was that way when we signed him and we also knew he always apologizes the next days. He’s always a great teammate, except for those times when he’s rolling his eyes, but his teammates forgive him and they understand. He’s tried to change, but it’s something he can’t change. It’s an emotional reaction and we’ll continue to work with him on it, but that doesn’t make him a bad teammate.

"Behind the scenes he’s actually well respected and well liked. I know it doesn’t look that way on the field sometimes when he’s reacting to bad results. But, yes, we’ll continue to work with him on that. More importantly, address issues physically, mentally and fundamentally.”

NEW YORK -- Red Sox pitcher John Lackey was highly emotional after Sunday night’s dramatic Red Sox win, but his agitated state had little to do with the outcome of the game.

Instead, Lackey lashed out at the media because of a text message he said he received about 30 minutes before his start that he claimed was “personal” in nature and “over the line,” though he offered no details.

In what was surely the most bizarre postgame interview session of the season, Lackey’s hostility was apparent from the first question, when he took exception to a questioner describing a three-run first inning as “rocky.”

“There was one hard-hit ball in that rocky first inning,’’ said Lackey, who has been widely maligned for his pitching during a season in which he has posted the highest ERA ever of any Red Sox starter who has thrown more than 150 innings. “A ground ball that went by somebody. Let’s be honest, one time. Whatever.’’

Lackey recovered from the first inning to pitch five scoreless innings until the seventh, when he was lifted after giving up a leadoff single to Eric Chavez, which ultimately led to a fourth run. Television cameras caught Lackey cursing from the mound to the dugout, apparently upset with manager Terry Francona’s decision to remove him. But by pitching into the seventh, Lackey had offered a welcome break from a stretch in which Sox starters had pitched five innings or fewer in six of the last seven games and 15 times this month.

To a question about what kind of boost the team received from his effort Sunday, he offered a terse, “We just needed to win a game.’’

But when asked by Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, “How do you think you pitched,’’ Lackey veered off topic in a big way.

“Let me tell you the truth,’’ Lackey said. “Thirty minutes before the game I got a text message on my cell phone from one of you, somebody in the media, talking about personal stuff. I shouldn’t even have to be standing up here dealing with it.

“I’m sitting here, listening to music. I don’t know who got my phone number, but that’s over the line.

“Anything else you want to talk about?’’

Nothing has surfaced publicly in recent months about Lackey’s personal life. Last winter, it was reported that Lackey’s wife, Krista, was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and after a particularly rough start in May, Lackey blurted, “Everything in my life sucks right now.’’

Before meeting with reporters Sunday night, Lackey had a brief but animated discussion with a club official about the text message and how his phone number had gotten out. There were indications Sunday night that a celebrity/gossip website had sent him the text message, but that could not be confirmed. The website TMZ subsequently published an item about Lackey's marriage on Monday morning at 3:55 a.m. ET.

When asked if he suspected anyone standing in front of him, Lackey said, “I’ll find out.’’

He also was asked if the text message had distracted him on the mound.

“I don’t believe I've got to deal with this,’’ he said.

Even after the interview broke up, Lackey continued to rage. “I can’t believe … Any of you who would get into that is going to have a serious problem.’’

BOSTON -- So, what is a more vexing problem for a team headed to the postseason: Trying to determine the identity of your No. 3 starter, or figuring out why your ace can’t beat your archrival?

Those are the separate issues faced by the Red Sox and Yankees, and underscored by the proceedings here Saturday afternoon at the Fens.

John Lackey, Boston's incumbent No. 3 with Clay Buchholz on the shelf, pitched without a net again Saturday afternoon, with Yankees clogging the base paths at every turn. But he was at his competitive best in the fifth inning, when he quashed a Bronx uprising by striking out Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira and retiring Robinson Cano on a roller to first.

By the time Lackey left, after six innings, the Red Sox were comfortably ahead, 7-3, against CC Sabathia, who is a world-beater against everyone else but is a perplexing 0-4 against the Red Sox, who became the first team ever to beat the All-Star left-hander four times in a single season.

The Sox, pulling back into a first-place tie with the Yankees, scored as many runs Saturday against Sabathia as the Yankee ace had allowed in his previous eight starts combined, treating him like he was Jo-Jo Reyes instead of the majors’ leading winner.

That does not bode well for the Bombers in October, given that his ERA against the Sox is 7.50; against the rest of baseball it's 2.11.

Jacoby Ellsbury, who knocked in a career-high six RBIs, became just the second left-handed hitter this season to take Sabathia deep when he launched a three-run home run that landed in the first couple of rows of the right-field grandstand. That was in the fourth inning, when the Sox scored five times off Sabathia, who gave up a leadoff double to Kevin Youkilis and singles to Mike Aviles, Carl Crawford and Marco Scutaro before Ellsbury took him out of the yard.

Ellsbury also had a sacrifice fly in the third, and a two-run single in the eighth off Yankee reliever Hector Noesi. Ellsbury, on pace to drive in 104 runs out of the leadoff spot, became the first Sox leadoff man to drive in six or more runs in a game since Ellis Burks drove in seven on June 10, 1987.

The other big offensive splash of the afternoon belonged to Carl Crawford, who had four hits, scored three runs and stole a base. Crawford also had hits in his last two at-bat Friday, giving him six hits in six at-bats after having just a total of five in the first nine games played between the teams.

BOSTON -- At first glance, Saturday afternoon’s pitching matchup does not seem to bode well for the Red Sox.

For the middle game of this weekend’s showdown, New York will send CC Sabathia to the mound, the ace of the Yankee staff and a legitimate candidate for the AL Cy Young award. Sabathia enters the afternoon with a Major League-leading 16 wins and sports a 2.55 ERA, fourth-lowest in the American League. He has also recorded 162 strikeouts in just 24 starts, a mark that ties him for second in the AL with Seattle’s Felix Hernandez.

Boston will counter with John Lackey, who will definitely not be receiving any Cy Young votes this year. Although he hasn’t lost since July 4, Lackey owns a career-high 6.23 ERA and has had well-documented struggles. In his last start against Cleveland on Monday, he was tagged for five runs and eight hits through 6 and 2/3 innings but received a no-decision in a 9-6 Sox loss.

While the season statistics of Saturday's starters overwhelmingly favor Sabathia, the head-to-head stats of both hurlers against their respective rivals tell a surprisingly different story.

Despite his difficulties against everyone else, Lackey has actually had success against New York since joining Boston in 2010. In three starts against the Bronx Bombers as a member of the Sox, Lackey is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA.

In his last start of the 2010 season, Lackey put together a 10-strikeout performance against the Yankees, surrendering only two earned runs in 7 2/3 innings pitched. On April 8, he was tagged for six runs in just five innings in his only start against New York this season, but the Sox offense provided nine runs of support to give Lackey his first win of the season.

Sabathia, meanwhile, has been downright awful against the Red Sox this season. In three starts against Boston this year, CC is 0-3 with a 6.16 ERA. Take out his three rough outings against the Red Sox, and Sabathia owns a 16-2 record with a 2.11 ERA.

Before the series opener on Friday night, Sabathia was asked about his struggles against the Sox and why Boston’s lineup is so difficult to face.

“I think it’s the speed, really. [Especially] at the top with Ellsbury, and Pedroia can steal a bag,” said Sabathia. “You got Crawford in there [too], and they got the heavy hitters, so you don’t want to let those guys get on and start causing havoc on the bases. [Then] you lose concentration for Papi and Youkilis and the rest of the guys in the lineup.”

Sabathia was especially impressed with Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, and noted that the leadoff man has made considerable strides as a hitter since last season.

“He seems more comfortable at the plate. He seems more assured of himself, knows what he wants to do,” said Sabathia.

Ellsbury is having a career year, and has achieved hero status of late with a walk-off single and a walk-off home run in back-to-back wins against the Indians this week. Ellsbury is batting .319 and has reached career highs in home runs (18), RBIs (66), doubles (31), and extra-base hits (51) with more than 50 games remaining in the season.

Ellsbury drove in the first run of the series on Friday night with an RBI double off the Green Monster in the third inning.

“When you make mistakes to him, here lately he hasn’t been missing them at all, so you just got to try to make quality pitches,” added Sabathia.

Despite his struggles against the Sox, the big left-hander says he treats Boston like any other team and won’t change his approach for Saturday’s start.

“Every start is different,” says Sabathia. “You go out there with different stuff every time out, so you just got to know what you have that day and attack with what you got.”

Sabathia is unique in his preparation in that he doesn’t watch video of opposing hitters. While many starters pore over video clips before a start to determine their pitching strategies, CC says he doesn’t believe in it.

“Never did, never have,” said Sabathia. “I tried it for one year and didn’t like it.”

“I’m going to pitch the same way,” Sabathia explained. “I’ll attack. Attack hard in, be aggressive in the strike zone, and pitch off my fastball, so it really does nothing for me to watch old videos.”

Sabathia would do well to put his starts against Boston in the past.

In his last start against the Red Sox on June 9, he allowed eight hits and a season-high-tying six earned runs in 6 and 2/3 innings, taking the loss in an 8-3 Sox win.

His woes against Boston aside, the lefty is one of the best in the game and he has been on a torrid stretch recently. He has allowed just seven earned runs in his last eight starts dating back to June 25, posting an impressive 7-1 record and a 1.01 ERA during that stretch. No matter how poorly he's performed against Boston in the past, Sox hitters are expecting his A-game on Saturday.

“He’s always tough," said Dustin Pedroia after Boston's 3-2 loss on Friday night. "He’s been on a roll, too, so we got to come out swinging the bats better than we did tonight.”

BOSTON -- John Lackey wasn’t especially sharp Wednesday night. With the way Boston's offense has been performing as of late, he didn't have to be.

The Sox starter was tagged for four runs (three earned) on 11 hits -- two of which were home runs -- in 5 2/3 innings, but the juggernaut that is the Red Sox offense continued to roll, banging out 12 runs on 16 hits to secure Lackey his fourth straight victory.

For Lackey, the win snapped an unusual string of, for lack of a better term, consistent inconsistency. Starting with a loss to the Mariners on April 30, Lackey dropped three straight decisions, went on the disabled list, won his next three starts, lost his next three after that, and had three straight wins heading into Wednesday’s start.

After the first inning, the start of another three-game skid looked to be ahead. Lackey got two tough breaks from the start, as a misplayed ball by Yamaico Navarro became an Alex Gordon double and an error by Kevin Youkilis on a Melky Cabrera ground ball put runners on first and second with no outs. After striking out Royals DH Billy Butler, Lackey left a 2-0 changeup over the plate to Eric Hosmer, who deposited it into the Monster seats to give the Royals an early 3-0 lead.

But the Sox had Lackey’s back by scoring 10 runs over the first four innings.

“It was nice, for sure,” Lackey said of his team’s offensive exploits. “As a pitcher, you’re OK with sitting over there for some extra-long half innings to watch that and get a lot of run support.”

“That’s one of the reasons why I came here. Some of my years in Anaheim, it wasn’t exactly like that,” Lackey added with a laugh.

Perhaps inspired by his team’s offensive efforts, Lackey settled down after his rough first inning and pitched reasonably well from that point on. After loading the bases to start the second, he found his groove and retired the next eight batters he faced.

“Lack kind of beared down,” manager Terry Francona said after the game. “The first inning was a little ugly. The first ball hits low off the wall, then we get the error, and then a ball hit a long way. But he settled down and got them out.”

After three scoreless innings, the tall right-hander ran into trouble in the fifth when he gave up a solo shot to Butler, then loaded the bases but escaped further trouble. In the sixth, with his pitch count above the century mark, Lackey was pulled with runners of first and third in favor of Randy Williams, who induced an inning-ending fly out from Chris Getz.

Wednesday’s outing wasn’t one of Lackey’s best, as he surrendered double-digit hits for the fourth time this year. That being said, he has won four outings in a row and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of them.

“The pitch count was kind of high, but he threw all of his pitches for strikes, he threw his fastball by some people, he could elevate it at times, threw his breaking ball for strikes,” Francona said. “I think he’s pitched a lot more consistently.”

With Andrew Miller’s recent struggles and an uncertain timetable for the return of Clay Buchholz, a more consistent Lackey would be a huge boost for the Red Sox rotation as they head into August.

ESPN.com's Buster Olney touches on a couple of Red Sox topics in his Sunday blog entry (Insider content).

Olney says the Sox will probably give Josh Reddick and their other outfielders seven to 10 days before deciding whether to make a trade.

"Josh Willingham is among the best of the current available veterans," Olney writes, "but for Boston, he would probably have to play right field, which is not a good fit. Ryan Ludwick could play right field, as could Jeff Francoeur, although there is a perception among interested teams that the Royals are inclined to keep Francoeur."

Olney also comments on the demonstrative actions of John Lackey during his start on Saturday. Lackey threw his hands up twice in the first inning after mistakes by shortstop Marco Scutaro and barked at manager Terry Francona when Francona pulled Lackey from the game with two outs in the sixth inning.

"The rest of the Red Sox position players deserve some kind of award for not reacting to Lackey's body language, which is the worst I've ever seen in a starting pitcher," Olney writes. "Can you imagine how a pitcher would respond if an outfielder threw his hands up in disgust while watching a home run ball soar over his head, after Lackey hung a breaking ball?

"Really, it's something that Lackey should strive to change, and if he doesn't, the Red Sox position players should all make a pact to physically react to every mistake Lackey makes on the mound."

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- For the first time in more than a month, Boston Red Sox starter John Lackey has won back-to-back games.

Yes, you read that correctly.

The veteran right-hander struggled at times early against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday at Tropicana Field, but he settled in and finished 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on 10 hits to help the Sox to a 9-5 win. He also struck out seven and walked only one, while throwing a total of 107 pitches, 74 for strikes.

Lackey has been inconsistent in 2011, but produced his best outing of the year and snapped a three-game losing streak right before the All-Star break. He worked 6 2/3 scoreless innings against the Orioles at Fenway Park and allowed a season-low three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

He’s starting to throw strikes. He’s getting swings and misses. He’s getting ground balls. More importantly, he’s winning.

“We would love for him to get hot,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “That would be one of the best things that could happen for us.”

Lackey is showing signs of coming around, which would be a major factor for the Red Sox since fellow pitchers Jon Lester (lat strain) and Clay Buchholz (back strain) remain on the disabled list. With Lackey’s last start prior to the break, the four-game hiatus during the week and now with his outing on Saturday, he’s hoping the second half will be better than the first.

“It was definitely nice to shut it down for a few days,” Lackey said. “What happened [in the first half] happened and you can’t do anything about that, but I’m going to go out there and compete my butt off and try to win every time I go out there.”

That’s what he did on Saturday and he was animated as ever while doing it.

Lackey’s body language during his outings may be a little less desirable than many would appreciate. When something doesn’t go his way, he’ll throw up his arms in disgust, roll his eyes and shake his head. Sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes it’s not.

Well, he’s not about to change the way he pitches.

“You only get, if you’re healthy, 33 times to help the team and you’ve got to take them pretty damn serious,” he said.

He was extremely animated in the first inning of Saturday’s game. Lackey felt like he made some decent pitches and was able to initiate a few ground balls, but a couple of them were perfectly placed or mishandled defensively. He surrendered three runs in the first, but only two were earned as Sox shortstop Marco Scutaro committed a throwing error on the first play of the game, allowing Tampa leadoff hitter Johnny Damon to reach base and he later scored the Rays’ first run.

Lackey did get some help defensively, as second baseman Dustin Pedroia and Scutaro turned a pair of double plays, including with the bases loaded with one out in the second inning to stifle Tampa’s offense.

Besides a solo home run by the Rays’ Matt Joyce in the fifth inning, Lackey finished strong and didn’t appear too happy when Francona came out to get the ball with two outs and two runners on while Boston was leading 6-4 in the sixth inning.

“Yeah, I felt like I could have gotten that guy out, but looking back on it, and I’ve been around long enough, we had a two-run lead and Tito probably protected me a little bit,” Lackey said. “I respect that, too.”

Francona said he didn’t even notice Lackey’s mannerisms.

“I don’t pay much attention,” he said. “That’s why I make the move before I get out there because there can’t be a discussion. I need to do what I’m going to do, so I always do it before I get out there.”

Prior to his last two outings, there were more questions than answers with Lackey, especially given the fact he spent time on the DL with an elbow strain. But now he’s content with his arm strength the last few starts, saying it’s the best he’s felt all season.

“This is the first real stretch of arm building I’ve had,” explained Lackey. “I had two starts [in April] then had 10 days off. Then I got hurt and had 15 days off. Now I’ve finally had some starts in a row to get some arm strength built up.”

During all of his adversity in the first half of the season, his teammates have always stood behind him and felt that if he could get on a roll, Lackey could roll off a bunch of wins. The Red Sox are starting to see that.

“He looks good,” said Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. “He was attacking the zone. There were a lot of broken-bat hits and that’s happened a lot to him this year. He’s going to grind it out. We’ve got a lot of games to go and he’s got a lot of starts left. He’s going to be fine.”

BOSTON -- There were no bench-clearing brawls tonight between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles as a reaction to Friday’s melee, but the home crowd at Fenway Park witnessed a much-needed solid pitching performance by Sox starter John Lackey.

The veteran right-hander, who has been inconsistent for the majority of the season, worked 6 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed only three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts to help the Red Sox to a 4-0 victory. He tossed 106 pitches, 69 for strikes. Lackey also drilled two Orioles' batters and on the second one, he was given a warning, along with both benches.

His fastball had good life. He was locating, and his breaking pitches kept the Orioles off balance all night.

Lackey received a standing ovation when he exited the field with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.

With the win he snaps a three-game losing skid and improves to 6-8, while dropping his ERA to 6.84. It was no doubt his best outing of the season, and with the All-Star break coming up, it was a good way for him to end the first half.

ELLSBURY’S EN FUEGO: And it doesn’t appear he’s about to cool down anytime soon. Boston’s leadoff hitter went 3-for-4, including a single, double and triple. Ellsbury, a first-time All-Star this season, is batting .314 with 11 homers, 48 RBI and 28 stolen bases. On this current homestand, he’s 12-for-26 with 5 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 2 walks and 2 stolen bases.

YOOOUK: Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis, who was added to the American League All-Star roster on Friday, went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and a run scored on Saturday.

PEDEY PILING ON: Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia went 1-for-3, but his double in the bottom of the seventh inning extended his current hitting streak to 11 games.

UP NEXT: The Red Sox send rookie right-hander Kyle Weiland to the mound for his major-league debut on Sunday afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. He will face the Orioles’ Mitch Atkins (0-0, 1.50 ERA).

Weiland, 24, the former University of Notre Dame standout, is in his fourth professional season in the Red Sox organization after he was selected in the third round of the 2008 draft.

He’s 8-6 with a 3.00 ERA this season at Triple-A Pawtucket. In his last 10 starts for the PawSox he’s 6-2 with a 2.33 ERA and has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 14 of his 17 starts.

“He’s throwing the ball really well,” Francona said Friday. “He’s missing a lot of bats. He’s come up with a cutter, along with his breaking ball and fastball, he’s having a lot of success.”
Weiland has recorded 99 strikeouts in 93 innings this season, while walking only 37.

“He throws hard. He’s got a live arm and always has,” Francona said. “We’re excited about this.”

BOSTON -- At his best, John Lackey is a top-tier pitcher who goes deep into games and is a quality asset to the Red Sox starting rotation. At his worst, he can give up hits and runs in bunches and is prone to early exits.

Of late, we’ve seen more Mr. Hyde than Dr. Jekyll from the big right-hander, and Monday afternoon was another example. In his shortest outing of the year, Lackey lasted only 2 1/3 innings, getting tagged for 7 runs on 9 hits in a 9-7 loss to the Blue Jays. Since joining the Red Sox, Lackey has a 9.95 ERA in seven starts against Toronto.

There are some concerns that Lackey is still bothered by the right elbow that landed him on the disabled list on May 15. After the game, manager Terry Francona dismissed those questions, remarking that his velocity remained steady throughout his brief outing.

“His velocity’s pretty much staying consistent. I think at times movement and location is what’s probably bothering him,” said Francona.

“I thought the breaking ball he had [June 29 against Philadelphia, when he allowed just two runs in 7 2/3 innings] wasn’t there today. Some of the balls were flat through the zone.”

Lackey seemed to agree with his manager, noting that velocity was definitely not the issue Monday.

“Overall, I thought my arm felt pretty good. Probably one of the better [times] it’s felt as far as velocity,” Lackey said. “Just didn’t locate well enough.”

After he struggled through the first two innings, the wheels finally came off for Lackey in the top of the third. He surrendered three straight hits before retiring a batter, then allowed two hits -- including a two-run double by Travis Snider -- before he was removed by Francona amid a shower of boos from the Fenway Faithful.

His only out of the third inning: a bomb from Edwin Encarnacion that Jacoby Ellsbury chased down about a foot from the base of the Green Monster in left-center.

Sporting a league-worst 7.47 ERA and a three-game losing streak, Lackey will have to make some changes to get on the right track. At this point, he said, all he can do is just “continue to work hard.”

“I’ve made a lot of adjustments, kind of on the fly, and hopefully some of those will turn into some results,” he said.

His batterymate, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, attested to Lackey’s work ethic and felt confident that he will turn things around.

“Lack’s the same guy every day. He comes in here and busts his tail, and every game he pitches we know we've got a chance,” Saltalamacchia said.

“He’s just grinding, man. That’s something Lack does every day. He competes and keeps us in the ballgame.”

Lackey most likely will get one more chance to redeem himself before the All-Star break; in the current rotation, his next start would be on July 9 at Fenway against the Baltimore Orioles.

BOSTON -- With the interleague schedule a thing of the past for the 2011 season, the Boston Red Sox returned home to Fenway Park on the Fourth of July to begin a seven-game homestand leading in to the All-Star break.

After posting a 10-8 record against National League teams this summer, the Red Sox entered the final week before the break with a loss as the Toronto Blue Jays posted a 9-7 victory Monday afternoon.

Red Sox starter John Lackey dug too big of a hole early, allowing seven runs on nine hits in his shortest outing (2 1/3 innings) of the season, and Boston could not recover.

Trailing 7-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Red Sox began to chip away with four runs. Boston added three more in the bottom of the eighth to cut Toronto’s lead to 9-7.

The rally in the eighth began with Yamaico Navarro leading off with a single to left. Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz snapped an 0-for-23 slump with an opposite-field ground-rule double to put runners on second and third.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia provided a two-run triple, then scored on a J.D. Drew sacrifice fly, but that’s as close as the Sox would come.

LACKLUSTER: Lackey continued his Jekyll and Hyde performances this season with another subpar outing. The veteran right-hander allowed seven runs on nine hits with no walks and two strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. It’s the fourth time in just 13 starts this season that he’s allowed seven or more runs. Lackey became the first Sox pitcher since Derek Lowe in 2004 to surrender seven or more runs four times in a season before the Fourth of July.

WHEELER DEALER: After Lackey’s dreadful outing, reliever Dan Wheeler was summoned from the bullpen in an attempt to salvage the game. The right-hander was perfect during his 2 2/3 innings of work, retiring all eight batters he faced.

DRILLED: Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the fourth inning and was removed from the game. Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow drilled Youkilis in the back, just below his neck on his right side. He dropped to the ground and remained on his knees for a moment while team trainer Greg Barajas and manager Terry Francona tended to him. Youkilis walked off the field on his own and was replaced by Navarro. It was the ninth time this season Youkilis has been hit by a pitch.

WEB GEM: Navarro remained in the game at third base and turned in the defensive play of the game in the seventh. The Jays’ Jose Bautista turned on an Alfredo Aceves offering and hit a chopper down the third-base line. Navarro, ranging back and to his right, snared the ball on the outfield grass and made a quick and accurate throw across the diamond for the second out of the inning. However, two batters later, Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion hit a would-be inning-ending grounder to Navarro, but the ball went through his legs, allowing the Jays’ Adam Lind to score from first base for an 8-4 Toronto lead.

TRIPLE THREAT: Red Sox leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury is having an All-Star season. He’s hitting above .300, has 9 home runs, 42 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. The one thing the speedster was lacking was a triple. He finally collected one with a two-out, two-run three-bagger off Morrow in the bottom of the fifth. Ellsbury ended the day with four hits, two RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base.

UP NEXT: Game 2 of this three-game set against the Blue Jays will feature Jon Lester (10-4, 3.43 ERA) vs. the Jays’ Brett Cecil (1-3, 7.24) Tuesday night (7:10) at Fenway Park.

BOSTON -- John Lackey returned to the Red Sox’ starting rotation Sunday and turned in an encouraging performance.

The right-hander, who hadn’t pitched for Boston since May 11 because of an elbow injury that sent him to the disabled list, worked his way through 5 2/3 innings in the Red Sox’ 6-3 victory over the Oakland A’s at Fenway Park.

Lackey clearly was laboring as he tried to get through the sixth inning. Lackey wound up throwing 93 pitches, which was about the pregame limit manager Terry Francona had predicted for the outing.

Lackey allowed only three hits, fanned two, walked two and hit three. He gave up a solo homer to Kevin Kouzmanoff in the second, an RBI single to Daric Barton in the fourth and was charged with a third run when Matt Albers was tagged for Barton’s RBI double, permitting an inherited runner to score.

That run cut Boston’s advantage to 5-3, but kept Lackey in line for his first win since April 24.

It was certainly a better performance than his last one, when Lackey was racked for nine runs on nine hits and five walks in 6 2/3 innings in a 9-3 loss to Toronto. Lackey was held out of his next start and given a cortisone shot in his ailing right elbow.

He threw one rehab outing for Pawtucket, giving up only one run in 5 2/3 innings on May 31.

Not being left out: Red Sox left-handed hitters have been responsible for the team’s last nine home runs, dating back to David Ortiz’ game-tying round-tripper in Detroit on May 29.

Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez went deep Sunday, giving Boston eight home runs on the homestand, each of them hit by a lefty. Gonzalez had three, Ortiz clouted two more, and Crawford, Varitek and Saltalamacchia had one apiece. Varitek and Saltalamacchia are switch-hitters, but each homer was hit from the left side.

Taking hits: Maybe there were ill feelings. Maybe a few pitches just got away.

But by the top of the fourth inning, three batters had been hit with a pitch, with the score being Oakland 2, Boston 1.

The Athletics’ David DeJesus was drilled on the right foot by Lackey. In the third, Oakland starter Brett Anderson sizzled a fastball off the back of Crawford’s right shoulder. Crawford had clubbed a three-run homer in his first at-bat, which likely accounted for Crawford jawing at Anderson as he walked to first base.

Then, in the top of the fourth, Lackey nailed Kurt Suzuki on the shoulder with two outs and none on. That transgression ultimately cost the Sox a run. Suzuki stole second and scored on a single by Barton, narrowing Oakland’s deficit to 3-2.

Lackey also nicked Conor Jackson with an inside fastball in the sixth, the ball barely grazing Jackson’s jersey. Jackson also stole second and scored.

On the road again: The Red Sox have Monday off, but they will be living out of a suitcase for the better part the next three-plus weeks.

Of Boston’s next 24 games, 18 will be on the road.

Boston will visit Yankee Stadium for three games beginning Tuesday night, then will have three-game stops in Toronto and Tampa Bay before returning home for six interleague games, three apiece with Milwaukee and San Diego. Then it will be another nine-game journey with three-game series in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Houston.

BOSTON -- The Red Sox made a couple of roster moves prior to Sunday’s homestand finale against Oakland.

John Lackey was activated from the disabled list to make the start Sunday. Outfielder Josh Reddick was optioned to Pawtucket to make room for Lackey.

That move had to be made to keep as many pitchers around as possible for Sunday after Saturday’s 14-inning game, not to mention the heavy bullpen use from the night before.

The Sox entered Sunday’s game with 13 pitchers and only 12 position players, but of those pitchers Jonathan Papelbon and Alfredo Aceves were unavailable because of use Friday and Saturday, and Daniel Bard and Bobby Jenks were likely to be limited because of similar work.

Boston has Monday off, and when the Sox open a three-game series in New York on Tuesday it is expected they will rid the roster of one pitcher and activate infielder Marco Scutaro from the disabled list. Scutaro is on a rehab assignment with Pawtucket.

CLEVELAND -- John Lackey threw 40 fastballs without discomfort in the Red Sox bullpen on Tuesday.

The right-hander, sidelined since May 12 with a strained right elbow, said he was encouraged and eager to give it another test soon.

"I felt pretty good and it was a step in the right direction," Lackey said. "I was happy with how I was finishing. I was able to let it go."

Lackey admitted he had pain in the elbow for "a little longer" than his last two starts, when he was touched for 17 earned runs in only 10 2/3 innings in losses to the Angels (11-0 on May 5) and Blue Jays (9-3 on May 11).

"It hurt when I fully extended -- but not today," Lackey reported. Asked if he's experienced anything like this injury in his career, he said, "I'm in my 10th year, so I've had a little of everything."

Manager Terry Francona said that pitching coach Curt Young was encouraged by Lackey's session.

"Curt said the ball was coming out of his hand real nice and easy," Francona said.

Lackey said he will try to throw all his pitches in his next session and is eager to get out on a minor-league rehab assignment and then back into Boston's rotation.

The Red Sox have him penciled in to start on June 5 at home against Oakland.

"I definitely need to face some hitters," he said. "Next time, I want to throw everything, sit down, then get back up again to simulate a game -- then go out somewhere" on rehab assignment.

Lackey said a cortisone shot stopped the swelling in his elbow, and that he went three or four days without even playing catch.

"I only had one shot, but they stuck me in a couple different places," he said.

Planning ahead: Francona said he was tempted to move Carl Crawford into Pedroia's No. 2 spot in the batting order behind leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury, but thought better of it.

Francona said he didn't want three lefties in a row in the lineup, even though Cleveland was starting right-hander Fausto Carmona. Francona was more concerned about facing the Indians' bullpen, where setup man Tony Sipp is 2-0 with a 1.33 ERA.

"Sipp has been getting out every lefty in the world," Francona said. " I didn't want to invite that."

Left-handed batters are 1-for-25 (.040) against Sipp this year.

Francona also said he would try to avoid using right-hander Daniel Bard, who worked the previous two games and was the loser Monday night.

"I'll stay away from Bard, even though he said he feels good," Francona said. "But we won't use him.

"He's so good, so durable, but he has such a career ahead of him and we want to watch it with him. It isn't about innings only with him. Some of his are high-level innings and when he goes over an inning, those are the ones you have to look at."

Okajima gives OK: Left-hander Hideki Okajima has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Pawtucket. The left-hander was designated for assignment on May 19 to clear roster space when lefty Franklin Morales was acquired from the Colorado Rockies.

Okajima went 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA in seven relief outings for the Red Sox this year. He burst upon the big-league scene as a 31-year-old rookie in 2007, going 3-2 with five saves and a 2.22 ERA and making the AL All-Star team. In 261 games, all in relief, he has a 17-8 record and 3.11 ERA for Boston.

Late payoff: The Indians are just now reaping the rewards of trading Victor Martinez to the Red Sox in July 2009 for right-handers Justin Masterson and Bryan Price along with lefty Nick Hagadone.

Masterson is a valuable member of Cleveland's rotation, going 5-2 with a 2.50 ERA in 10 starts.

Hagadone, 25, has been converted to relief. In 14 outings combined at Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus, he is 3-1 with a 1.82 ERA. He could be a valuable addition to the Indians' bullpen if Cleveland continues its breakneck pace atop the AL Central and needs relief help down the stretch.

Price, 24, was moved to the bullpen a year ago in the minors and is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA at Akron.