A SAD END TO A RECORD SEASON ...
Jon Lester sparkles in winning his first game

June 16, 2006 ... With Matt Clement joining David Wells on the disabled list, Jon Lester was more than willing to take the ball for and give his team a chance to win a game. The 22-year-old, in his second big league game, raised his hand and his game yesterday, posting this sparkling line: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. He became the first left-handed rookie starter to win a game for the Sox since Casey Fossum in September 2002.

The Sox, entering the game, had lost three in a row to begin this six-game trip. They'd lost four in a row overall and five of six. They were just 13-23 against Atlanta in interleague play.

Lester got into a few jams but got out of them, too, something three-time 16-game winner Tim Hudson could not do, in the Sox' much-needed 4-1 win before 51,038, the largest gathering at Turner Field this season. He found himself matched up against Atlanta Hudson (6-4, 3.79 ERA), and Lester looked to be the veteran.

His first time through the Atlanta order he fanned four. He began his night by throwing a fastball by Marcus Giles, then caught Edgar Renteria hitting the snooze button, but nothing else. The former Sox shortstop watched as a fastball buzzed in at 92 miles per hour for a called strike three. Lester fanned Brian Jordan to end the second with a 93-m.p.h. fastball, then snuck a fastball at 91 by Todd Pratt to begin the Atlanta third.

Lester, 22, made it four scoreless innings in the fourth, despite a two-out walk to Jeff Francoeur and a two-out single by Matt Diaz. That brought up Adam LaRoche, who broke his bat lining out softly to third baseman Mike Lowell.

Lester, in the fifth, showed his greatest poise. Pratt, the No. 8 hitter, singled and Hudson bunted him to second. Giles then singled to center and Lester walked Renteria, loading the bases with one out. His task: keeping up with the Joneses. Chipper was due with Andruw to follow. Chipper Jones flied to deep right, scoring Pratt. Lester, who didn't appear to want much to do with Andruw Jones, who homered a major league- leading 51 times last year, walked Jones on four pitches. Up came Francoeur, whose power is as would be expected (14 homers, 47 RBIs), but whose average isn't (.248). Still, he represented a major threat. Lester got him to ground to shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who had to hastily catch and throw to cut down Francoeur and leave the bases loaded.

Lester, in his six innings, left seven Braves on base, including three in scoring position. He allowed just five hits in six innings, working through a lineup that ranked fourth in the National League in runs in just 93 pitches.

Lester, in two starts to begin his big league career, has the following line: 10 1/ 3 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 7 BBs, 9 Ks, 0 HRs. That's 1-0 with a 3.48 ERA. Hudson, meanwhile, fell into deficits of 1-0 (after two innings) and 4-0 (after three innings).

The Sox, who scored only two runs in 20 innings off Minnesota starters in the Twins' three-game sweep, doubled that total off Hudson in seven innings. In the second, Trot Nixon, Jason Varitek, and Mike Lowell put together three singles, with Lowell's single scoring Nixon. That was RBI No. 35 for Lowell. With two men on base, though, Hudson fanned Alex Cora and Lester, ending the inning.

The Sox, though, struck for three in the third, when Hudson did himself in. He walked Coco Crisp to lead off the inning, got Mark Loretta and David Ortiz to fly out, then walked Manny Ramirez. Nixon, up next, hit a high fly ball deep into the left-field corner, foul and near the wall. Diaz, running wildly, leaped and crashed into the wall as the ball landed where he'd been instead of where he was going. Nixon, who should have been out to end the inning, walked on the next pitch. That gave Varitek a chance with the bases loaded and two outs. Varitek, on 1 and 1, got a fastball and cranked it off the wall in right-center. With two outs and the runners burning on contact, Varitek emptied the bases for a 4-0 lead.

Long night for the Sox Thursday.  After being swept out of Minnesota, they landed here at 3:30 a.m. and pulled into the hotel at 4. Francona got a call at 5:10 a.m., asking if he wanted his bags delivered.