Cubs starter John Lackey dazzled in Monday’s start against the Cardinals, tossing seven shutout innings on four hits and a walk with 11 strikeouts. He moves to 3-0 on the year with a 3.66 ERA and a 22/5 K/BB ratio in 19 2/3 innings.
Lackey also finally defeated the Cardinals for the first time in his career, meaning he has now earned a victory over all 30 major league teams. He’s the 16th pitcher to do so, per MLB.com, joining Al Leiter, Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, A.J. Burnett, Kevin Brown, Terry Mulholland, Curt Schilling, Woody Williams, Jamie Moyer, Javier Vasquez, Vicente Padilla, Derek Lowe, Dan Haren, Kyle Lohse, and Tim Hudson.
It’s not surprising that it took Lackey this long to defeat the Cardinals as he spent 2002-14 in the American League and then got sent to the Cardinals at the July non-waiver trade deadline in 2014. Until Monday, Lackey never actually had an opportunity to pitch against the Cardinals.