Lester was left down for the count
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- There was the gem on July 18, the night Jon Lester pitched like an ace. He went eight innings, threw 100 pitches, struck out four, and ended the night with a 2.38 ERA after a 1-0 win over the Royals.
If that was the pitcher Lester will be, last night, in taking the loss in a 6-4 defeat to the Royals, he was the pitcher he has been -- hitting a high pitch count early, walking batters, and leaving several innings for his bullpen.
``I had trouble controlling everything," Lester said. ``It wasn't just one pitch. I mean, just, everything -- changeup, curveball, fastball, it didn't matter. I just had no command with anything tonight.
``Any time that you don't go six, seven, eight innings, it's frustrating, so it's been kind of the story of the season. I've had the high pitch counts, and the walks, and the 3-2 counts, and all that stuff. It's frustrating, but like I said, just keep working hard."
Last night, the young lefthander threw 105 pitches, 52 for strikes, gave up four runs (all earned) on six hits. He walked three, struck out five, hit one batter, and threw one wild pitch (on which two runners advanced and later scored).
Remember that 2.38 ERA he touted last time he faced the Royals? Exactly three weeks later, it has risen to 3.86. And that 5-0 record has dropped to 5-2.
Since showing the fans at Fenway how good he can be, Lester's done little to reinforce that dominant performance. For instance, in his four starts since that eight-inning outing, he's gone five innings (July 23 no-decision against Seattle), 6 1/3 innings (July 28 loss against the Angels), six innings (Aug. 2 no-decision against Cleveland), and five innings last night.
Lester's problems started early last night. After two innings, he'd already thrown 47 pitches, allowed three hits, and two runs. But he settled down in the third and fourth, striking out three, getting two fly outs and a popout before the two-run, three-hit fifth that would end his outing.
Manager Terry Francona said for Lester, it's about the learning curve.
``I think he's just trying to be too fine," he said. ``At times [it's hard for him] to just trust his stuff and pound the zone because he has a way of wiggling out more often than he doesn't . . . He threw [105] pitches. As he gets more comfortable in the league and when he trusts his stuff [his pitch counts will go down], but that's a lot of pitches for five innings. I'm not being critical of the kid because he's learning on the job, but that's part of it. Like I've said a lot of times, those five-inning games will turn into seven or eight, it's just not happening as much as we'd like."
Perhaps, Lester said, Francona is right about being him too fine. Sometimes he said he catches himself aiming for ``corners instead of halves" and that he needs to focus on throwing strikes, hitting the ``meatier part of the plate."
Could Lester, who has admitted to leaning on Jason Varitek throughout the season, have been affected by a change behind the plate? With Varitek on the disabled list, Lester teamed up with Javy Lopez for the first time, but he made it clear Lopez had nothing to do with his rough night.
``[My command] was terrible all night. It didn't get any better with anything. That's the way it goes sometimes," Lester said. ``[I'm] trying to take my bullpens into games, that's kind of the biggest thing right now. I'm having good bullpens, which is a positive. I'm just not taking them to the game right now."
There's little worry in Francona's mind that Lester will begin transferring his bullpen stuff into the games.
``We know what he can do," he said. ``At this level, this is a hard place to be consistent, to go out and stay eight innings, you've got to be good, and he is. He's just learning."
