Lights out Lester by Jared Carrabis
Lester dazzles in personal best outing of season


It's hard to believe that these two teams combined to score 25 runs in the series opener.

Since that night, the Red Sox have scored four runs, and Boston has held the Blue Jays to just one run. Fans have been waiting for this whole "run prevention" method to kick in, and it has been like night and day this series.

Jon Lester took the mound, coming off his best start of the season. It was a start in which the left-hander held the Baltimore Orioles scoreless over 5.2 innings, striking out seven. Lester would outdo his previous outing and then some.

Lester was strong from start to finish, striking out two in his first inning of work. He struck out at least one batter in each of his seven innings of work, including inning-ending strikeouts in six of seven frames.

The left-hander allowed a leadoff double to Vernon Wells in the bottom of the second, and would retire fourteen consecutive batters following the two-bagger. Lester cruised through the Jays' lineup, needing 119 pitches to mow down 23 batters in seven innings of work. When Lester's day was done, he had racked up a team-best 11 strikeouts.

The Red Sox offense tallied eight hits, but stranded six men on base. In the top of the sixth, Darnell McDonald lined his second double of the season to center field. A single by Marco Scutaro and a double by Kevin Youkilis brought McDonald around to score the game's first run.

In the next inning, D-Mac struck again with a two-out, RBI base hit to drive in Adrian Beltre, who doubled to start the seventh.

With a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the eighth, manager Terry Francona went to his setup man, Daniel Bard. Hitting 100 MPH on the gun, Bard struck out the side in order.

Bard would hand it over to Jonathan Papelbon in the bottom of the ninth, with a two-run lead. Papelbon took care of business, hurling a perfect inning, striking out one. Papelbon's strikeout of Aaron Hill was the fifteenth K for Red Sox pitching on the night, as the Boston closer notched save number seven, completing the sweep of the Jays.

Final score: Red Sox 2, Blue Jays 0
WP: Jon Lester (1-2)
LP: Brett Cecil (1-1)
SV: Jonathan Papelbon (7)

Game notes: The Red Sox have won seven of their last nine games to get to .500. Jon Lester's pitching line of 119 pitches, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, and 11 SO were all season bests. Adrian Beltre extended his hitting streak to six games with a multi-hit performance on Wednesday. It was Beltre's sixth multi-hit game of the season, and the third of his six-game hitting streak. For the Red Sox, it was their first win since April 14 against the Minnesota Twins that was by more than one run (6-3). With a 2-for-3 night at the plate, Darnell McDonald is hitting .333 since being called up to the Red Sox.

Tweet of the night -- This tweet came from the always witty, Chad Finn of the Boston Globe staff:

@GlobeChadFinn: Clearly, Jon Lester has already turned his calendar to May.

Friday's pitching match-up:

With a day off on Thursday, the Red Sox pack their bags to beat up on the O's in Baltimore. John Lackey will give it his best shot to continue the Red Sox' streak of outstanding starting pitching, as he has handled the Orioles well in his career. Lackey has pitched his way to a 9-3 record against the O's with a 3.21 ERA. The right-hander will have to keep the O's at bay, as his .322 opponents batting average is far from impressive. Right-hander David Hernandez will be going up against the Sox on Friday night for Baltimore. His 1-2 record and 5.40 ERA in five career starts against the Red Sox is evidence of his struggles against Boston.

-Jared Carrabis

To order Jared's debut book, One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, click HERE!





Published on April 28, 2010

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