In a league of his own by Jared Carrabis
Jon Lester out-duels Tim Lincecum, hurls second CG in Sox victory


In one of the top marquee match-ups of 2010, it was Jon Lester who held up his end of the bargain.

The Red Sox got things started with a bang in the top of the first, when David Ortiz destroyed a changeup offering from Tim Lincecum. Ortiz's sixteenth homer of the season splashed down in McCovey Cove. It was just the first time in 2010 that a batter hit a ball far enough to reach water and the seventy-second time in the history of the ballpark, with a majority being hit by the infamous Barry Bonds.

Lester would allow a run in the bottom half of the first, but the Giants found out the hard way that the lefty gets stronger as the game goes along.

The left-hander logged his second complete game of the season, sixth of his career, while striking out nine Giants, coming two whiffs shy of his season high.

Allowing just five hits all evening, Lester retired the last ten batters he faced.

As far as run support was concerned, the Red Sox were all over Lincecum early. The back-to-back NL Cy Young Award-winner walked Victor Martinez to lead off the second, and allowed a one-out double to Bill Hall, who picked up the slack in the absence of Dustin Pedroia.

Later in the inning, Lester came to the plate with the bases loaded. With a 3-1 count, Lester drilled a 91 MPH fastball to deep center field, that more than likely would have been a grand slam in a majority of major league ballparks.

Marco Scutaro followed Lester's sacrifice fly with an RBI base hit into right, scoring Hall from third.

Hall kept his hot hitting going in the very next frame, knocking in Boston's fourth run. The third inning would be Lincecum's last, as the right-hander hit the showers after tossing just 79 pitches, and 44 for strikes.

The score would hold at 4-1 into the top of the ninth, until Adrian Beltre hammered his twelfth homer of the season and his seventh of June.

Lester shut the door in the ninth, needing just 103 pitches to finish off his complete game gem.

With a day off on Monday, Lester gives a taxed Red Sox bullpen two full days of rest, which could be the difference-maker in the huge series that Boston has against the Rays on Tuesday.



Final score: Red Sox 5, Giants 1
WP: Jon Lester (9-3)
LP: Tim Lincecum (8-3)

Game notes: Jon Lester continued to plead his case as being the starter for the AL All Star team. Since April 23 Lester's 2.11 ERA is the best in the American League. After punching out nine batters on Sunday, Lester boosted his strikeout total on the season to 111, which is good for second best in the AL. His complete game gives him 107 innings for 2010, which makes him the first left-handed Red Sox pitcher since Bill Lee to have thrown 100 innings before the All Star break in three consecutive seasons.

Tweet of the Night: @PeteAbe: Jimenez and Lincecum vs. the #RedSox: 8.2 IP, 15 H, 10 ER. It's hard to take the NL too seriously.

-Jared Carrabis

Published on June 27, 2010

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