Lester returns to form against O's by Mike Ghika
Sox win fourth straight with 2-1 victory


And so the Red Sox can rest easy once again with the young Jon Lester.

The lefty was brilliant over seven scoreless innings after getting off to a horrid start. Coming in, Lester had given up 11 earned runs in 11 innings pitched for a robust 9.00 ERA. He said that physically he felt fine, and today's performance surely answered any questions anyone had.

Ramon Ramirez (0.00 ERA) pitched a perfect three-up, three-down eighth inning before making way for fellow newcomer Takashi Saito for the save, although he did run into trouble in the ninth. Nick Markakis led off with a single, and Aubrey Huff's single off the Wall scoreboard in left put runners at first and third with nobody out. Markakis came in the back door on a Ty Wigginton ground out to third to account for the Orioles' lone run, putting Huff in scoring position. Nonetheless, Saito got Luke Scott to line out softly to right before striking out pinch hitter Gregg Zaun to end it.

After appearing on both Friday and Saturday, closer Jonathan Papelbon was unavailable for Sunday's game. Management does not like him pitching three days in a row, as it tries to cut down his innings throughout the year to make him strong in the final months. He admitted he experienced some arm fatigue late last year, and everyone remembers when his shoulder literally came out of the socket back in September 2006.

The Sox got on the board in the second after Mike Lowell singled home Kevin Youkilis after the first baseman had led off the inning with a double - his sixth of the season. Youkilis is now hitting .468 on the year with a .529 OBP and .778 slugging percentage.

The offense's second run didn't come until the sixth, when MVP Dustin Pedroia singled home shortstop Nick Green, who had singled. Jacoby Ellsbury also had a strong afternoon at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double.

O's starter Koji Uehara was also sharp on the afternoon (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 SO) despite suffering his first loss of the season. But the story was undoubtedly Lester. He gave up just four hits on the day, striking out nine while walking two.

So after a 2-6 start, the Sox have rang off four straight to pull even at .500 on the season. During the streak, they've been forced to win a couple of different ways. While they got great pitching from Tim Wakefield last Wednesday and Lester today, they had to overcome a 7-0 deficit on Friday night after a dismal Brad Penny start. Last night, the bullpen threw three scoreless innings in relief of Josh Beckett in the 6-4 win over Baltimore.

Sure enough, the Sox are proving they can win in a variety of ways. Winning has seemingly replaced that borderline awful start to the season, and things are looking nowhere but up heading into the annual Marathon Monday game tomorrow morning.

-Mike Ghika

Final Score: Orioles 1, Red Sox 2

Published on April 19, 2009

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