Skip to main content

Lackey goes from Red Sox to Cards for Kelly, Craig

The Boston Red Sox traded right-hander John Lackey to the St. Louis Cardinals for right-hander Joe Kelly and outfielder Allen Craig before Thursday's deadline.


The deal leaves the Red Sox without their top two starters. Both teams announced the move a few hours after the struggling Red Sox said they had sent their No. 1 starter, left-hander Jon Lester, to the Oakland Athletics with outfielder Jonny Gomes and cash for slugging outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and a 2015 draft pick.


The Red Sox also sent cash and minor league left-hander Cory Littrell to St. Louis.


Lackey is 11-7 with a 3.60 ERA in the fourth year of a five-year, $82.5 million deal.


Kelly is 2-2 with a 4.37 ERA in seven starts. He has made four starts since being activated from the disabled list on July 11. Craig is batting .237 with seven homers and 44 RBIs.


Lackey has had two strong seasons since being sidelined for all of 2012 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.


He was 10-13 with a 3.52 ERA last year when he pitched his second World Series-clinching game, allowing one run in 6 2-3 innings in a 6-1 win over the Cardinals in Game 6. In 2002, he won Game 7 for the Anaheim Angels over the San Francisco Giants, a 4-1 victory in which he gave up one run in five innings.


The Cardinals, in a tight race with the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Central, had obtained right-hander Justin Masterson from the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday.


Kelly joins a Red Sox rotation with a much different look than the one that began the season.


Lester, Lackey, Jake Peavy and Felix Doubront all are gone. Peavy was traded to the San Francisco Giants last Saturday and Doubront was sent to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. Only Clay Buchholz, an inconsistent right-hander, remains from the original group.


The 26-year-old Kelly was 5-7 with a 3.53 ERA as a rookie in 2012 and 10-5 with a 2.69 ERA last season.


Craig brings more power to a weak-hitting outfield that was bolstered by the acquisition of Cespedes. In the past two seasons, Craig totaled 35 homers and 189 RBIs, hitting .307 in 2012 and .315 in 2013.


The 30-year-old Craig has been in a season-long slump after batting a major league-best .454 with runners in scoring position in 2013. He's gotten days off to help emerge from his slide with little success. He hasn't been the same since missing the last month of regular season with a left mid-foot strain but came back for the World Series, playing some designated hitter and first base.


Kelly and Craig both were hurt running to first, Craig when he landed awkwardly rounding the base and Kelly injuring his hamstring sprinting to beat out a bunt.


While the Cardinals make their playoff push, the Red Sox are in last place in the AL East and looking ahead to next season. With the departure of four veteran starters, several of their top prospects should get a long look the rest of the season.


___


AP Sports Writer R.B. Fallstrom in St. Louis contributed to this report.






via Sify.com http://ift.tt/1m2eyYi
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RB Leipzig's Jean-Kevin Augustin joins Leeds United on loan

Leeds [UK], Jan 27 (ANI): German football club RB Leipzig's Jean-Kevin Augustin on Monday joined Leeds United on a loan. The striker joins the Whites on an initial loan deal until the end of the season from Bundesliga outfit Red Bull Leipzig, the club said in a statement. Augustin joined the RB Leipzig in July, 2017 for a fee of 13 million Euros. The 22-year-old featured in both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League during his time with the German club, who finished sixth and third in his two seasons, where he scored 20 goals in 67 matches. French national helped his country win the European Under-19 Championship in 2016, where he scored the most number of goals and was adjudged as player of the tournament. Augustin is Leeds' third signing of the January transfer window following the joining of Elia Caprile and Ian Poveda. (ANI) via Sify.com https://ift.tt/2OiruB9
Post a Comment
Read more

Chelsea are a young team, need to improve a lot: Kovacic

London: Chelsea's Mateo Kovacic said they are a young team and need to improve a lot. Chelsea secured a 2-1 win over Hull City on Saturday in FA Cup. Michy Batshuayi scored the opening goal of the match in the sixth minute and Chelsea's second goal was scored in the 64th minute. "It was a tough game, as we knew that it would be, but we need to score in the first half two more goals. That's our problem in this moment but obviously we're happy to go through," the club's official website quoted Kovacic as saying. "It was because we didn't score on time - we had some chances and we didn't use them. In training, we are working on it but we are still a young team, a new team, and we need to improve a lot. We need to take our chances, which in this moment we are not doing great, but we have time to improve and I am sure we will do," he added. Chelsea are currently placed at the fourth position in the Premier League table with 40 points...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chelsea are a young team, need to improve a lot: Kovacic

London [UK], Jan 27 (ANI): Chelsea's Mateo Kovacic said they are a young team and need to improve a lot. Chelsea secured a 2-1 win over Hull City on Saturday in FA Cup. Michy Batshuayi scored the opening goal of the match in the sixth minute and Chelsea's second goal was scored in the 64th minute. "It was a tough game, as we knew that it would be, but we need to score in the first half two more goals. That's our problem in this moment but obviously we're happy to go through," the club's official website quoted Kovacic as saying. "It was because we didn't score on time - we had some chances and we didn't use them. In training, we are working on it but we are still a young team, a new team, and we need to improve a lot. We need to take our chances, which in this moment we are not doing great, but we have time to improve and I am sure we will do," he added. Chelsea are currently placed at the fourth position in the Premier League table ...
Post a Comment
Read more