Lackey back at Fenway as Cubs face Red Sox

BOSTON -- Fried chicken and beer.

The words became infamous after the collapse of the 2011 Boston Red Sox, a meltdown that led to the firing of Terry Francona, who had won two World Series in the previous seven years.

Pitchers Jon Lester and John Lackey were the ones in the middle of the mess, with them downing fried chicken and beer in the clubhouse during games, a sign that Francona had lost his handle on the team.

A lot has happened to both of them since, and while Lester will not face the Red Sox at Fenway Park this weekend, Lackey will be on the mound for the Chicago Cubs and oppose Steven Wright in the second game of the three-game series Saturday.

Lackey missed the 2012 season with Tommy John surgery and then went 10-13 in the regular season and 3-1 in the postseason in 2013, winning the deciding game for Boston in the World Series. He was traded by the Red Sox at the trade deadline in 2014 -- Boston getting Joe Kelly and Allen Craig in the deal -- and then signed with the Cubs last season.

"To see how he rewrote his own story here in Boston I think is pretty miraculous in a way," said Boston manager John Farrell, who was both a pitching coach and manager for Lackey. "He rehabbed the Tommy John, he got himself in shape, he came out and performed. ... I can still hear the reaction when he walked off in Game 6 after what he had been through.

"That was a really special moment, to clinch a World Series with him on the mound."

Both Saturday starters take the mound looking for some positive results.

Wright is 1-2 with an 8.66 ERA and is struggling to regain his form after suffering a right shoulder injury as a pinch runner in Los Angeles last season. He has allowed 33 hits and 17 earned runs in 17 2/3 innings, walking four and striking out nine.

Farrell said Wright "discovered some things" in his last bullpen session, bringing "a bit more energy in his delivery" that has led to more movement on the knuckleball

Lackey, who will make his first regular-season start against Boston since Sept. 15, 2009, is 1/3 with 4.88 and has lost his last three starts. He has yielded 23 hits and 13 earned runs in 24 innings, walking nine and striking out 16.

Lackey gave up five earned runs in six innings in his last start.

"I felt I definitely pitched a lot better than the numbers are going to show," Lackey said. "I didn't give up a whole lot of hard contact. What are you going to do?"

Opponents are hitting just .245 against Lackey, but a whopping .413 against Wright.

Both right-handers have done well in interleague play -- Lackey is 22-16 with a 3.24 ERA in 48 games (47 starts) and Wright 3-0 with a 2.79 ERA in four games (three starts) and a .207 opponents' batting average.

While this is Lackey's first start against the Red Sox in almost eight years, he has not had much success against them, going 3-7 with a 5.25 ERA against Boston in the regular season and 1-2 with a 2.57 ERA in the playoffs, His last postseason start against the Red Sox for the Los Angeles Angels was in the 2009 AL Division Series, where he pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings in a win.

Boston's slumbering bats erupted for five runs in the first inning Friday night and then held on for a dramatic 5-4 victory in the opener of the three-game interleague series.

The Cubs went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position in the loss, leaving manager Joe Maddon steaming.

"None of this double-digit left-on-base stuff. We've got to start moving runners across the plate," Maddon said. "We've got them out there and the right guys coming up, but we're not doing that with any consistency."