"Three hours before the Red Sox faced the A's last night, starter John Lackey sat at his locker with what looked like murder in his eyes.

Lackey was wearing his game face, and it turns out it wasn't for show.

Though Lackey took the 5-0 loss, he by no means deserved it. The A's touched him for a soft run in the first on a leadoff single by Coco Crisp, a steal and two groundouts, then managed nothing until reliever Hideki Okajima went up in flames in the eighth.

It was an encouraging performance by the most maligned Red Sox starter this side of Daisuke Matsuzaka. Lackey allowed four hits and one run in six innings, striking out three and walking one while lowering his ERA to 9.82.

"Lackey pitched great," said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. "We were mixing his pitches like he always does. He just battled. It's been what, 10 days' rest? I think he was just focused and determined to go out there and pitch a great game."

Lackey hadn't started since April 8, when he allowed seven hits and six runs in five innings of a 9-6 victory over the Yankees. In a mild surprise, he was then skipped in the rotation after a rainout against the Rays last week, but the move now appears justified, given how well Lackey pitched last night — not to mention how strong Matsuzaka looked in a one-hit outing on Patriots Day against the Blue Jays.

"I thought he did tremendous," said manager Terry Francona. "The first inning, Coco throws the hit into left just over Jed (Lowrie)'s glove, they get the stolen base, score the run on the ground ball. Then he didn't give them anything else."