Cardinals’ Lackey is unfazed by the big stage
John Lackey stepped to the podium minus the obvious status symbols: his two World Series rings. No reason to brag.
“No, I don’t wear them very much,” he said Sunday. “Maybe to a wedding or stuff like that. They’re a little big and a little flashy, not exactly my style.”
The St. Louis Cardinals acquired Lackey from World Series champion Boston at the trade deadline for occasions just like this, knowing NL Division Series Game 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers won’t be too big for the 35-year-old right-hander. Lackey won a game in each series last fall, including the Game 6 clincher over St. Louis. “Yeah, definitely take pride in that,” Lackey said. “I want to pitch well this time of year, but things I’ve done in the past aren’t going to help me” Monday.
Lackey (14-10) starts after the Cardinals split in California against Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. Los Angeles left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-7), recovered from shoulder irritation, makes his first start since Sept. 12 when he didn’t make it out of the first inning at AT&T Park in a 9-0 loss to the Giants. Ryu pitched seven scoreless innings last year to beat the Cardinals in Game 3 of the NLCS.
Los Angeles was 0-3 at Busch Stadium in last year’s playoffs, shut out twice. Fan beaten: Police were looking for three men suspected of brutally beating a man in the Angel Stadium parking lot in what appears to be an unprovoked attack.
The 43-year-old Huntington Beach man and his relative were walking to a car after the Angels’ playoff game against Kansas City on Friday night when they were attacked for no apparent reason, police said Sunday. Witnesses alerted Anaheim police officers of the incident, and they found the victim unconscious. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
The attack was reminscent of the beating of Giants fan Bryan Stow, who was beaten in 2011 outside Dodgers Stadium after a Giants-Dodgers game. Stow suffered brain damage from the beating and is permanently disabled.