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JON LESTER |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Jon Lester pitches a shutout
gem in San Francisco, 7-0
August 19, 2013 ...
Jon Lester took the mound and spent the night putting the Giants to sleep, firing a gem that lifted Boston to a 7-0 victory in the opener of a three-game series. The lefty tossed 8 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up six hits. He walked two and struck out three.
It was just the type of pitching performance that his team needed. After losing to the Yankees in a Sunday night game that ended after midnight ET, the Red Sox rose up Monday morning and flew out of Boston at 10:20 a.m. Most of the team went straight to the
ballpark after the six-hour flight touched down in San Francisco. Jon Lester was afforded the luxury of flying ahead of the team so he could get a full night of rest before facing the Giants Monday night. Though the Red Sox had to be tired after a long
day, they didn't let it impact their performance. The victory was much needed for a Boston team that had lost seven out of 10.
The offense, led by three hits from Shane Victorino and Daniel Nava, plus multi-hit performances from
Stephen Drew and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, gave Lester enough to work with on a night he outpitched
Tim Lincecum. The bats rallied against Lincecum in the second. Saltalamacchia led off with a single to right. Nava drew a walk. Drew's single loaded the bases with nobody out.
Will Middlebrooks did his job, lofting a sacrifice fly to right for the first run of the game. Nava wound up scoring on a balk and Victorino capped the rally with an RBI single to make it
3-0.
Lester retired the first nine Giants on 38 pitches. His perfect game ended when Andres Torres led off the fourth inning with a single. While Lester stifled the Giants, Drew extended Boston's lead to four runs by belting a two-out, RBI double to right-center
in the fifth. Jacoby Ellsbury scored the fifth run on reliever Guillermo Moscoso's wild pitch in the
sixth, and Pedroia tripled ahead of Saltalamacchia's RBI double in the ninth. Saltalamacchia scored on Nava's third single of the night.
Lester was at 107 pitches through eight innings. The Sox had a long top of the ninth inning, scoring two runs as Dustin Pedroia tripled, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, doubled and Nava singled.
Brandon Workman finished the game, but Lester's performance was still more than good enough.
Though there were nice contributions across the board, the story of the night, without question, was Lester. Lester, who had a prolonged rut in the middle of the season, is starting to pitch like an ace again at just the time his team needs him to.
Since the All-Star break, Lester is 3-1 with a 2.52 ERA and that includes a start in which Arizona shelled him for six runs.
The Red Sox called up their top prospect, 20-year-old shortstop Xander Bogaerts. Bogaerts is joining the Sox to provide depth on the left side of the infield and not necessarily to play every day, manager John Farrell said. Farrell said the
righthanded-hitting Bogaerts would complement lefthanded-hitting shortstop Stephen Drew. Drew has hit well since coming off the disabled list July 20. But he also was hitting .195 with a .593 OPS against lefthanders this season. Farrell said Bogaerts
would also play at third base. But he indicated there would be more games at shortstop for the rookie.
The Sox optioned Brock Holt back to Pawtucket to make room for Bogaerts on the roster. Middlebrooks, Farrell said, is now the backup second baseman. The Red Sox also made a bullpen move. Rubby De La Rosa was demoted to Pawtucket after a series of rocky outings and
righthander Brayan Villarreal was called up. Catcher David Ross was also activated off the 60-day disabled list. He had been out since June 15 because of a concussion. Ryan Lavarnway was dropped down to Pawtucket to make room for Ross on the roster. He
hit .288 with six RBIs in 52 at-bats over 16 games (13 starts) filling in for Ross. |
