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Red Sox, Lackey Fall 2-1 To Phillies

Boston Red Sox's John Lackey pitches in the thid inning of an interleague baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday in Philadelphia. (AP)
Boston Red Sox's John Lackey pitches in the thid inning of an interleague baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday in Philadelphia. (AP)

John Lackey had his best outing in two months and chipped in at the plate.

The rest of the Boston Red Sox couldn't do anything.

Raul Ibanez hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh, Vance Worley pitched seven strong innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat Boston 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Lackey (5-7) gave up two runs and eight hits in 7 2-3 innings. It was his first quality start since April 30 and his finest effort since tossing eight scoreless innings on April 24.

"I thought he was tremendous, he had good breaking balls, better than I've ever seen, I think," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "We scored one run for him. That's all there is to it. But, I thought he was terrific.

"And he took our best swing of the night, too."

Lackey lowered his ERA from 7.36 to 6.81. He hit a game-tying RBI double in the fifth.

"Over 162 games, it runs both directions," Lackey said of the lack of run support. "We have a great offensive team."

In a series billed as a World Series preview, the major league-leading Phillies (51-30) have taken two straight and go for a sweep Thursday.

Worley (3-1) allowed one run, five hits and struck out five. The rookie right-hander has filled in nicely for injured starters Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton.

Michael Stutes pitched a perfect eighth and Antonio Bastardo finished for his third save and first filling in for Ryan Madson. The Phillies are down to their fourth closer with Madson, Jose Contreras and Brad Lidge on the disabled list.

Ibanez was 3 for 3 with two RBIs, falling a triple short of the cycle. He came in 5 for 44. But he's now 22 for 57 off Lackey.

"He's seen me in the AL West," Lackey said. "There's not many pitches he hasn't seen."

The Red Sox have lost six of seven since going 14-2.

Desperate to wake up a slumping offense, Francona gave Adrian Gonzalez his second career start in right field so David Ortiz could play first base. Ortiz hadn't started the previous four games because there is no designated hitter in NL parks.

It didn't work. Big Papi was 0 for 4.

"I felt a little off, sure," Ortiz said. "In the first at-bat, I just couldn't pull the trigger. After that, I felt a little more comfortable. But not enough."

Gonzalez didn't have any putouts in his first game in right since 2005. He went back to the wall and leaped for a ball hit by Chase Utley in the eighth, but it bounced high off the railing and went for a triple.

Ibanez put the Phillies up 2-1 when he led off the bottom of the seventh with a drive to the seats in right. It was his first homer since May 30, and snapped a streak of 90 at-bats without one.

The Red Sox tied it at 1 in the fifth on Lackey's fourth career hit. Josh Reddick singled with one out and scored on Lackey's two-out double. Lackey was 3 for 36 with one double and one RBI in his career before hitting a 3-2 pitch to deep left-center.

Ibanez gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI single. Shane Victorino led off the inning with a double down the left-field line. He scored when Ibanez hit a hard liner to left-center.

This program aired on June 30, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

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