After 'school', Lester gets down to business
It had been just nine days since Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein shot down the notion of Jon Lester filling in for the injured David Wells in a prime matchup against the Yankees in New York. Epstein, loath to give in to the demands for information on the team's premier minor league starter, deemed the 22-year-old in ``finishing school," in the midst of a six-game stretch in which Lester went 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA at Triple A Pawtucket.
``He graduated this week," manager Terry Francona joked, when reminded of the comment before last night's game.
After a roster move that wasn't officially announced until minutes before the 6:12 first pitch -- Lester in, Craig Hansen to Pawtucket -- the prized lefthander walked to the mound for a few warm-up tosses and the start to his major league career. Granted, he had arrived at the park long before game time, entering Fenway around 9:45 a.m. and enduring a rain delay and a postponed opener to a doubleheader, leaving him a bit antsy.
``I was trying not to go stir crazy, sitting around, watching TV, trying not to think about the game," Lester said after a 7-4 loss to the Rangers in which he pitched 4 1/3 innings. ``I was just relieved that I threw a couple strikes [to leadoff batter Gary Matthews, who struck out]. First one, I didn't really know where it was going to go. As long as [Jason] Varitek caught it, I was happy."
It is certainly possible that all 36,920 ticket-holders will years later say they were present at Lester's first major league outing, though many of them were no longer in attendance by the time Lester threw his 102d and final pitch. It was ball four to Kevin Mench, Lester's fourth free pass of the game.
Francona then began his trip to the muddy mound, where he relieved Lester with Julian Tavarez three batters and one out into the fifth inning. And Tavarez (who had allowed 8 of his 14 inherited runners to score before last night), as if a gift to the young pitcher, left both base runners where they were, striking out Ian Kinsler and Gerald Laird swinging to preserve a 3-3 tie.
Lester's outing was similar to Jonathan Papelbon's major league debut 10 months ago. Papelbon also recorded a no-decision at Fenway, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits over 5 1/3 innings. Lester allowed three runs (all earned) on five hits. Both pitchers struggled with control, Papelbon allowing five walks, Lester four.
While Francona allowed that the major league strike zone might have played into the control issues -- replacement umpires populated the minor leagues during a strike this season -- nerves had an equal role. And, to listen to Lester, it wasn't all him. The crowd was more intense than those at McCoy Stadium.
``I'm not used to that," said Lester, who will stay in the rotation, according to Francona, though the manager would not announce his next start. ``Couple pitches I let the crowd kind of influence what I was doing. It's just like in the 0-2, 1-2 counts, 3-2 counts, they start getting on their feet, getting loud. You definitely feel the energy in the stadium. Sometimes it pumped me up and I wanted to throw as hard as I could. That kind of got me in trouble."
True, though when it counted, Lester managed to extricate himself. With two outs in the second and the bases loaded on a two walks and a fielder's choice, Lester struck out Mark Teixeira with a 73-mile-per-hour curveball. It was just one instance -- among many -- when the lefthander used his low-70s curve and low-80s cutter in fastball counts, a sign of maturity in a young pitcher.
``I thought he showed some of the things that we've heard about," Francona said. ``Today was not an easy day to make your debut. Any day like this, any starting pitcher is not real comfortable. But I thought he competed. I thought we saw some signs of what he can do. Now he just has to get comfortable, get in a routine, and attack the strike zone with his good stuff."
