Can't Touch This by Jared Carrabis
Lester dominates KC (again), Pedroia wins it in the 8th


Jon Lester flat out owns the Kansas City Royals--scratch that--Jon Lester flat out owns the American League.

The last time Lester toed the rubber to do battle against the Kansas City Royals, the left-hander made history by tossing a no-hitter on May 19, 2008. He wasn't able to keep a zero in the hit column tonight, but he did, however, keep the zeros rolling along in the runs column.

While Lester's eight-inning, four-hit, eight-strikeout performance was masterful, the Washington native was nearly deprived of a hard-earned victory in this one. Kansas City's Brian Bannister matched Lester pitch-for-pitch through the first eight frames.

The closest this contest came to bending in the favor of one starter over the other came in the fifth inning when Jacoby Ellsbury charged home from third. The throw got to the plate around the same time as Ellsbury, but replays indicated that the Boston outfielder's foot touched home plate before Miguel Olivo's tag. Ellsbury spiked his helmet in frustration and got the hook from home plate umpire Derryl Cousins.

After Lester hurled his last pitch in the eighth inning, the manual scoreboard on the Green Monster displayed a 0-0 tie. If the left-hander planned on walking away from this one with a win, he would need his teammates to come through against Bannister, as both starters were more vulnerable after eclipsing the 100-pitch mark.

Mark Kotsay kicked off the bottom of the eighth inning with a line drive back up the middle that nearly decapitated Bannister. Kotsay was lifted from the game and replaced by pinch-runner, Aaron Bates. Nick Green stepped into the box and failed to drop down a bunt in his first two attempts, but made a gutsy decision to bunt on his own with two strikes and dropped down a textbook bunt.

A wild pitch moved Bates within 90 feet of home for Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia, who has been hot lately, but was hitless entering his eighth inning at bat, rocketed an 86 MPH changeup off the wall in left to bring Bates in from third.

With a one-run lead, the bullpen gate opened and with the fist pound from Officer Dunn, Jonathan Papelbon charged in from right field. Papelbon had converted 22 of 24 saves entering Friday night, but a large sum of his saves have come after a great deal of work. On Friday, Papelbon bared down and went to work against the Royals and retired the side in order in impressive fashion. Papelbon needed just 11 pitches to make quick work of the Royals. Ten of his eleven pitches were fastballs, as the Boston closer lit up the gun for speeds as high as 97 MPH.

The save for Papelbon was his 23rd, as Jon Lester improved to 8-6 on the season.

Things you'll need to know to impress your friends

In Jon Lester's last eight starts, the left hander is 5-1 with a 1.49 ERA and 69 strikeouts. Lester's 10.34 K/9 IP ranks second in the American League and his 131 strikeouts rank second in the AL behind Justin Verlander.

With their win against the Royals on Friday, the Red Sox improved to 14-13 in one-run games this season, outscoring their opponents 114-113 in those 27 games.

After his game-winning RBI double in the eighth, Dustin Pedroia bumped his batting average back up to .300 for the first time since June 11. Pedroia has now hit safely in his last five games, hitting at a red-hot .542 clip. The reigning MVP has put together three three-hit games and his homered twice over the same span.

Saturday's pitching match-up:

All eyes are going to be on John Smoltz on Saturday. Red Sox fans are being patient with the veteran starter who has began his Red Sox career with an 0-2 record in three starts with a 6.60 ERA for Boston. The 42-year-old has been pitching well at times and being batted around at times. In his fourth start since coming back from shoulder surgery, Smoltz has his best chance to pick up his first victory in a Red Sox uniform against a weak-hitting lineup that Kansas City possesses. The Sox will be going up against the overpaid Gil Meche, who is 4-8 with a 4.14 ERA.

This one goes out to the Kansas City Royals. With love, Jon Lester.





Published on July 11, 2009

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