For 8 1/3 innings, it was all about John Lackey at Fenway Park. At the end of the game, it was still all about John Lackey. A man who typically has been hammered by the Red Sox in October was brilliant against them on this night in late July.

Lackey threw many strikes and mixed up his pitches, and did not allow a hit through 8 1/3 innings on the mound in Boston. The Angels had a 6-0 lead at that point when Dustin Pedroia came up to the plate with one out in the 9th. Pedroia then singled past the diving reach of shortstop Macier Izturis. The Fenway crowd roared. Lackey tried to gather himself and try and finish off with the shutout, while chants of, “Youk!!” went off at the park. It was the Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis, and he promptly broke up the shutout with a line drive home run into the Green Monster in left. Instead of replacing Lackey with a reliable reliever, Mike Scioscia stuck with him, and Lackey was able to finish the game.

“You’re not going to get a better pitched game than that, for sure,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. “Unfortunately, that ninth inning, he didn’t finish the no-hitter or shutout, but against that lineup, to pitch that well and that deep into the game, that’s a great game by John Lackey.”

The Angels scored twice in the 3rd and 4th innings. In the third, RBI’s by Chone Figgins and Macier Izturis put the team ahead. The next inning, Garret Anderson launched his 10th home run of the year, a 2-run shot to meke it 4-0. The Angels added to more in the 7th, and it was more than enough support for John Lackey. Clay Buchholtz was charged with the loss; he also lost to the Angels earlier this month at Angel Stadium.

John Lackey: 9 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Chone Figgins: 1-2, 2 BB, RBI, SB

Clay Buchholtz: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R, (5 ER) 3 BB, 5 SO