"Curt Young became Oakland's pitching coach in 2004, two seasons after John Lackey broke in with the Los Angeles Angels. And for years, he had an up-close view as Lackey dominated Athletics hitters, particularly at Oakland Alameda County Coliseum.

Thus, with a chance to manipulate the Red Sox' starting rotation, Young figures the best way to get Lackey back on track is by matching him up with Oakland.

Lackey had been scheduled to start last night at Fenway Park, but rain washed out the finale of a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox are idle today, and rather than have the big right-hander start tomorrow night against the Toronto Blue Jays, they have decided to push him back to Tuesday night's series opener in Oakland, Calif.

That may be exactly what Lackey needs. Through two starts, he owns an unsightly 15.58 ERA. He allowed nine runs on 10 hits in 32/3 innings April 2 in Texas, then gave up six runs on seven hits in five innings of last Friday's home opener against the New York Yankees.

Lackey hadn't surrendered as many as 15 runs in back-to-back starts since July 30-Aug. 5, 2003, his second season in the majors.

"It's not perfect for him," manager Terry Francona said of the change, "but rather than have five guys really pushed back too much, we'll take one start and let Lack start the game out in Oakland, where he's had a lot of success."

Conventional wisdom had the Red Sox using last night's rainout and today's scheduled day off to skip struggling right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka's turn in the rotation. Matsuzaka got rocked by the Rays on Monday night, allowing six runs in the second inning and failing to survive the third.

In two starts, Matsuzaka is 0-2 with a 12.86 ERA. After a strong finish to spring training, he has allowed 14 hits, walked five and struck out only four in seven innings."