Lester in control of less dramatic win
No theatrics from Texas this time
The view from the mound could not have been more different. The Red Sox tacked on an 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers last night to complement their 19-17 free-for-all victory Tuesday night, and while a win is a win, the tight control Jon Lester maintained in earning his 11th victory was a balm for the team.
After sending out a parade of pitchers who stumbled and staggered Tuesday, the Sox sent out the 24-year-old lefthander, who took control. While the Red Sox were hitting as if it was a summer league softball game for the second straight night, for an 8-0 lead after five innings, Lester locked up the Rangers' bats for seven.
"I was feeling pretty good," Lester said. "Early on I was able to establish first-pitch strikes and I was around the zone. With this team, if you establish strikes early on, you can get some easy outs later. I was able to do that.
"I ran into a little trouble in the eighth, but that happens."
The trouble came from Ian Kinsler, who cranked a full-count fastball to left for his 14th road homer of the season and third in his last three games. Kinsler is 11 for 28 with three home runs and eight RBIs in his last six games. Michael Young and Jason Ellison followed with singles and Sox manager Terry Francona reluctantly decided it was time to take Lester out of the game.
"Obviously, you want to stay and you want to finish the game," Lester said. "But he's the manager, I'm not going to argue with him. As a competitor, you don't want to be taken out of the game, you want to finish the inning . . . He thinks that I need to get out of the game and give our bullpen a chance to shut it down."
Lester was tagged with three earned runs. The rest of his line: 7 1/3 innings, seven hits, six strikeouts, and one walk. He threw 108 pitches, 76 for strikes, and he was still fired up to pitch longer.
"I thought he was still strong," said catcher Jason Varitek.
" I don't doubt he could have gotten out of it himself," Francona said. "I just thought it was the right thing for the rest of the season. I think he's smart enough to know that, but I didn't want to see him get those earned runs, either."
It was Lester's seventh straight start of at least seven innings; he is 4-1 in that stretch with a 2.77 ERA. The Sox are 14-1 when Lester goes at least seven innings.
More than the numbers, though, Lester soothed the Sox with his consistency. And after Tuesday's raucous, reckless victory, Lester's mastery was calming.
"I thought he was tremendous," said Francona. "I thought he had power on his two-seamer and his cutter. It's a shame - you looked up at the end and the inherited runners score, because I really thought he pitched really, really well.
"Against that lineup, we score early and we added on. When you do that, a mistake doesn't beat you."
Lester (11-4) gets stronger and tougher as the summer moves along. He is 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in his last 12 home starts; he's just the seventh Sox pitcher since 1956 to go unbeaten in at least 12 straight home starts. Since 1956, only four Sox pitchers have longer streaks (Luis Tiant, 16; Jose Santiago, 15; Dennis Eckersley, 14; and Chuck Rainey, 13). Lester's is the longest such streak by a Sox lefthander since '56.
"He was outstanding, particularly in his command of the bottom of the strike zone," said pitching coach John Farrell. "Seemingly over the last two nights, any mistakes we made in the strike zone they didn't miss, which was evident even in the eighth inning with Kinsler against Lester. He did a great job of throwing the sinker down and away to righties and then to some lefties, and more than anything he was able to throw three pitches for strikes, but was relentless with his location in the bottom of the zone."
Lester maintains the same stingy hold off the field, speaking carefully, hardly moving his mouth and without changing his expression. Top of his game? He doesn't really know.
"I feel pretty good right now," Lester said. "I don't know what my top or my bottom is, it's just a matter of going out and being consistent and I've been able to do that for the past couple of months, and that's the main thing. You want to go out and pitch a quality start and hopefully we win that game." 