Monday, September 07, 2009

Ace

I think it's safe to say that the title of this post belongs to one Jon Lester, who simply dominated the Chicago White Sox yesterday in putting the Red Sox back on the winning path, 6-1.

Lester was superb, allowing just four hits in seven innings, striking out eight and walking two. He was in trouble just once, in the first, when with two on and no out, Dustin Pedroia made a sensational over-the-shoulder grab and doubled Scott Podsednik off first base. After that, Lester was in full dominant mode. Lester also became the first Sox lefty to get 200 strikeouts in a season, when he struck out Alexi Ramirez to end the fourth.

The score remained scoreless until Mike Lowell hit a two-run homer in the fifth. It was all Lester needed, and Chicago scored their only run when Ramon Castro hit a home run off his former Mets teammate Billy Wagner in the eighth.

Victor Martinez put the win on ice with a three-run shot in the ninth to close out the scoring, and Jonathan Papelbon closed out the game in the ninth without too much trouble (allowing just a scratch single with two outs). The loss by Texas puts the Sox back up in the Wild Card race by 3.

Lester is now 12-7, and without question the best Red Sox starter right now. Josh Beckett, who once had the title earlier this year, will try to right his own personal ship today in the final game of today's wrap-around series with the White Sox, and it is the final game of this road trip, and a win would give the Red Sox a winning record of 4-3 on it.

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