BOSTON – John Lackey’s season has been nothing if not consistently inconsistent. He’s followed starts where he’s been sharp by starts where he’s been equally ineffective. He missed 21 games while on the disabled list with right elbow strain. He’s dealt with personal issues. He has battled through stretches in which he has won three games in a row and four games in a row with a stretch of three straight losses in between.Fortunately for the Red Sox Saturday afternoon against the Yankees at Fenway Park, Lackey was effective enough to earn the win, giving his team a share of first place in the American League East again as the Sox pounded the Yankees, 10-4.Although Lackey threw 115 pitches – three shy of his season high – limiting him to six innings, he held the Yankees to three runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts and two hit batters. With the win, Lackey improved to 10-8 with a 6.14 ERA, just his seventh quality start in 19 outings this season.Opposing Yankees ace CC Sabathia – the AL’s pitcher of the month for July and Cy Young candidate – Lackey improved to 3-0 in his last three starts against the Yankees going back to Oct. 3, 2010.Lackey threw just 50 pitches in the first three innings, but a 36-pitch fourth-inning jeopardized how deep he would get in the game. A five-run outburst by the Sox offense in the fourth inning allowed him to leave with a 7-3 lead.”His pitch count got up in a hurry and he was still able to go after that,” Sox manager Terry Francona said. “He used his changeup, his breaking ball and only let them have two [runs in the fourth]. That was big.”The win allowed the Sox to take back a share of the division lead, which the Yankees had to themselves after beating the Sox on Friday.”[It] was a big game,” Lackey said. “Was a fun atmosphere and I can’t say enough about the offense, especially [Jacoby Ellsbury, who went 2-for-4 with six RBI] and Carl [Crawford, who went 4-for-4 with three runs scored] having huge games against a tough left-hander like CC. That’s pretty impressive.”In the fifth inning, Lackey allowed a run when No. 9 hitter Francisco Cervelli led off with a single and Lackey hit Brett Gardner with a pitch. A Derek Jeter single scored Cervelli. But Lackey got Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira to strike out before getting Robinson Cano to ground out, limiting the damage.”I’ve got confidence,” Lackey said. “This is not my first time.”I’ve been around for a while. I’ve won a few big games in my life.”Still, facing a division foe with first place on the line presents its own challenges.”I squeezed about 10 innings worth of pitches in six innings,” Lackey said. “They make you grind. They’re a lot like our lineup. Can’t make mistakes. Kind of a thin line. You want to throw strikes but you can’t just throw [anything] for a strike.”I take pride in those kind of games. It’s a grinder. You got to grind through. It’s not always pretty but at the end of the day, if you win, it doesn’t matter.”On this day, that’s all that mattered.