There's nothing left of Lester's tale
OAKLAND, Calif. - Jon Lester seemed surprised when he was approached by a member of the Red Sox media relations staff yesterday afternoon. Sure, he was scheduled to start today's finale of the three-game series against the Oakland A's. But why would reporters want to talk to him - again?
There was that little matter of the no-hitter in his last start.
"There aren't too many starts where you have to talk to the media the day before you pitch again," said Lester. "It really hasn't been any different for me. Just preparing the same, dealing with the same workouts. With the exception of all the media attention, it hasn't been any different. I just want all the media attention to die down."
That might take a while, especially with the Red Sox heading to Seattle, near Lester's hometown of Puyallup, Wash. But even as he prepared for his first start since the no-no, Lester remained about as calm - and confused, at least at the attention - as he always is. He was far more focused on the next start than any residual excitement or celebration over his accomplishment last week.
He still hasn't had time to reflect on the no-hitter. There was a minor celebration when he got home Monday night, a call to his parents, and not much more. There was little sleep, though, and quite a bit of staring at the ceiling.
"That's part of what makes him so special," manager Terry Francona said of Lester's humility. "Next day, I said, 'Get your [self] up to the weight room.' He goes, 'I'm going.'
"He's just a nice young kid. He's very respectful, he likes to pitch. He's trying to get better. This was a great step for him."
Even though Lester threw 130 pitches in the game - the highest total of his career - he said he didn't feel any effects during the week. He was helped by the extra day's rest because of the doubleheader last Saturday (and the insertion of an extra pitcher into the rotation).
"He had a lot of adrenaline going," Francona said. "I'm sure he didn't sleep that night. I also think, on the flip side, this has got to be great for his confidence. But we'll keep an eye on the workload this next start, and even his start after. We'll watch to see how he's doing."
Asked what he might take from his no-hitter, from his ability to stay in his delivery and still throw in the mid-90s into the ninth inning and his consistency and tempo, Lester didn't hesitate.
"Strike one," Lester said. "That's the biggest thing. That's what I've said since Day 1. It's been kind of my biggest problem since I got called up. It's always strike one. If you do that, you can dictate what you want to do in the count and do to that hitter, and you can then try to set up the out pitch you want to use. That, in turn, sets up the next at-bat and the next at-bat."
Go to the videotape
It wasn't his request, Manny Ramírez said, but he was happy with a day off last night. He needed it, he acknowledged."I'm not pressing," said Ramírez, who has hit .189 over his last 24 games. "I was doing something wrong, but I went to the video and I checked it. It was good that they gave me a day off today. I'm going to go to the cage and fix it. I wasn't seeing the ball good, but now I'll go to the cage and I'll fix it."
Though he wasn't willing to expound upon the problem, Ramírez seemed unconcerned with his struggles, or with the flags out in left field at Fenway Park marking his career home runs. His looming 500th - he's stuck on 498 - isn't part of the issue. Hitting coach Dave Magadan picked up on something about four days ago, though Ramírez hadn't started working on correcting the problem until he felt it Friday.
Francona said Ramírez will be back in the lineup today against righthander Joe Blanton.
One other to remember
The last time the Red Sox were held to one hit was April 11, 2007, when Seattle's Felix Hernandez performed the feat . . . Josh Beckett struck out nine batters last night, making it 15 straight starts in which he has struck out at least five. Only three other Red Sox pitchers have had streaks of at least that long: Pedro Martínez, whose 53-game streak is the Sox record, Roger Clemens, who had two 20-game streaks, and Hideo Nomo . . . Jacoby Ellsbury made a stellar diving catch in left on the first batter of the game, Jack Hannahan. After just missing a diving five-star catch in foul territory, Ellsbury made one, making the dive in fair territory for the out . . . The Red Sox played their fastest game of the season, finishing in 2 hours 17 minutes. And Friday's wasn't much longer, clocking in at 2:27.Foul mood
Magadan wanted to clarify the reason for his Friday night ejection: J.D. Drew had broken his bat while fouling a ball down the right-field line. He was brought a new one immediately by the bat boy, but found that it wasn't tacky when he stepped to the plate. That's why Drew asked to get more pine tar - and was told by home plate umpire Tim Tschida that he couldn't. And that was why Magadan said something to Tschida. "I just said that that's part of baseball - in a little louder voice," Magadan said. "I was just shocked by it. I wasn't aware that there was a conference call, that they were going to start enforcing [rules to quicken the game] this weekend. That's my fault for not knowing that."Tavarez on his own
Instead of accepting an assignment to Pawtucket, reliever Julian Tavarez elected free agency Friday. After he was designated for assignment May 12 when Sean Casey was activated from the DL, Tavarez cleared waivers and had indicated that he would head to Triple A. But he changed his mind, and was granted free agency.Moss demoted
Brandon Moss (appendectomy) was activated from the 15-day disabled list after Friday's game, his second rehab game with the PawSox. He had gone 2 for 8 with a triple, two RBIs, and a run scored in those games. He was optioned to Pawtucket, but continued to hit, going 2 for 5 with a double last night in the PawSox' 9-1 win over visiting Rochester. Chad Spann had the odd line of the night, going 1 for 3 with five RBIs. The PawSox third baseman drove in the runs via a ground out, sacrifice fly, walk, and two-run single . . . Third base coach DeMarlo Hale returned after missing four games because of a family matter . . . Ellsbury was caught stealing in Friday night's game. Francona confirmed he was allowed to go in that instance, even though the team was down by five runs. Ellsbury would have been safe, had he not overslid the bag.