Old friends set to face off
Friendship will take a backseat to competition when Angels pitcher Jered Weaver and Boston ace John Lackey square off in a matchup of former teammates on Tuesday in Anaheim.
Lackey was 49-32 with a 3.72 ERA in 112 starts over eight seasons with the Angels and will be making his first start in Anaheim since signing with Boston as a free agent.
"It'll be fun," Lackey said. "Weaver and I will put something on it for sure. We've talked. There's a lot of mutual respect. It's going to be fun going against each other for sure. He's having a great year, so I'm sure he'll pitch well."
Lackey allowed one run on two hits against the Angels on May 5 at Fenway Park earlier this season, but things will be much different this time around. Lackey is not sure how Anaheim fans will react when he takes the mound in a Red Sox uniform.
He did win game seven of the 2002 World Series as a rookie in Anaheim but also left for the rival Red Sox on a five-year contract worth $82.5 million.
"We'll find out," he said. "I'm not sure what's going to happen. I hope they respect the things I did here."
Anaheim’s manager Mike Scioscia hopes the fans remember what Lackey did for the franchise during his eight years with the club, but admits that it will be weird seeing his Lackey pitch for the opposing team.
"It's always strange seeing a guy who wore your uniform for a long time change colors, but John's competitive and our club is competitive," Scioscia said. "I wouldn't expect any less than going pitch-for-pitch against us like when he beat us earlier in the year."
As for Weaver, he too will have pressure to perform in front of the hometown fans and not be upstaged by his former teammate. Weaver took a tough loss in his last start, allowing three earned runs in six innings and wants to put it all behind him.
"I was trying to keep us in the game as much as possible," Weaver said. "I wish I could have gotten deeper in the game. Any time you hold that team to three runs in this park [Arlington], you feel like you've done your job."
The Angels have lost all five meetings against the Red Sox this season after sweeping Boston, 3-0, in the 2009 play-offs. But General Manager Tony Reagins is not big on history lessons and believes that the past is in the past.
Despite being 7 1/2 games behind Texas in AL West and after suffering its fifth defeat in six games, Reagins believes his club will do fine against Boston and said on Monday Anaheim is "firmly" in the AL West race.
Angels: Injury to Dan Haren
The newly acquired pitcher was struck on the forearm by a line drive and had to leave in fifth inning of Angels' 6-3 loss to Boston on Monday night. The injury does not appear to be all that serious. Dan Haren was diagnosed as having a bruise on his forearm and is scheduled to be re-examined on Tuesday.
Red Sox: Ellsbury getting healthy
Jacoby Ellsbury started his rehab sessions in the minor leagues, going 1-for-3 in a Gulf Coast League game. Ellsbury served as the designated hitter and is expected to play the outfield on Tuesday and could move up to Triple-A pending his performance and how he feels.
"I think we have a pretty good plan in place," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "We have a couple of different calendars depending on how he feels, and there's some communication every day and that's what we'll continue to do."
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