Red Sox snap skid off Ortiz homer, Lackey gem and Ellbury RBI's: Red Sox win 6-1

Streaks started...streaks ended.

Coming into Saturday evening's 4 o-clock showdown with new York, the Boston Red Sox had lost 3 straight games and had failed to snag a win in 7 of their last 11 games. They had lost 2 straight series and were in danger of loosing their 3rd should the Yankees come out on top in their ensuing game.

But for the Red Sox, their lack of wins was not the only negative statistic they were looking to erase. For pitcher John Lackey, he had not been credited with a win since July 12th and for Shane Victorino he had failed to get on base in 3 straight games. A total of 13 straight at bats without a hit.

But like the win less streak, those runs of pathetic failure all came to an end today.

For John Lackey, he began his assault right off the first pitch...but those first few outs were not delivered via the strike or fly out. In truth, Lackey snagged just 1 strikeout through the 6 an 2 thirds innings that he played gaining 15 of the 20 outs he snagged, via the ground out.

So, with that facet of the game going strong, John Lackey was almost demanding the perfection of those playing behind him. Dustin Pedroia at least did not disappoint. Opening eye's for the first time early in the second inning, the Yankees had 2 men on with just 1 out. Lackey was in trouble early on and was in a position that Boston did not want to let get any worse. Long story short, they did what they wanted as Stephan Drew smartly caught a pop fly in shallow center field and then flipped to Dustin Pedroia who applied the tag to complete a double play.

2 innings later, Pedroia was at it again. With A-Rod batting, an attempted steal by Alfonso Soriano was thwarted by a mighty throw from Saltilamaccia and an even better tag by Boston's second basemen: Pedroia. The Red Sox would get out of the inning without being scored against but they would smack across a run at the bottom of that 4th frame as they finally gave their starting pitcher the run support he had failed to get for so long now.

By the end of the 4th, Boston was up 3-0 and Lackey was still rolling. To that point in the game he had not allowed a run and had seen just 4 hits and of course, no runs.  But at least that final facet of Lackey's night changed in the 5th inning when Ichiro Suzuki drove in the Yankees first and only run of the game.

The Red Sox would add 2 more runs in the 6th inning sealing the game and bringing closer Koji Uehara on to seal off the win. Koji would go on to slam the Yankees with a 13 pitch 9th inning despite being not credited with the save. But Lackey was still the story of the night.

"Lackey was outstanding today," said Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, booed loudly again during each at-bat. "Threw the ball very well. He's having a big year for them. And Papi, he's the heart and soul of that team. Obviously had another big day." (*note* Ortiz hit a solo home run in the 7th inning. )
When it all ended, the Sox were victorious and they had ripped apart one of the best pitchers in Baseball: Heroki Kuroda. Coming into the night, the Yankee's ace was 11-7 but had won 7 of his last 11 starts. All season long he had not allowed more than 8 hits in a game. He changed that Saturday allowing 11 hits and 5 runs.

The Red Sox had won the game. They had demolished one of the best pitchers in the game and...an added perk: Alex Rodriguez went 0 for 3.