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JON LESTER |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Jon Lester and the Sox roll on
September 14, 2013 ...
In Saturday's 5-1 win over the Yankees, Jon Lester pitched aggressively, carelessly, and almost flawlessly. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound lefty only nibbled occasionally, but he was mostly overpowering, holding the Yankees to one run on three hits over eight innings. Lester hit 95
miles per hour with his fastball and at times overpowered the Yankees, generating 11 swing-and-misses. Lester's cutter, inconsistent in June and July, is lethal again. In the 11 starts since his sabbatical, Lester is 6-2 with a 2.38 ERA. As his ERA dropped, his confidence rose. In his last
two starts, both against the Yankees, Lester went 16 innings and gave up four runs. He has not given up a home run since Aug. 2.
Through the first three innings, Lester was perfect. He attacked with his cutters, got ahead often and worked quickly. His fastball command was so sharp that he didn't need a changeup until the sixth inning.
Curtis Granderson hit a long fly ball to lead off the fourth, but Shane Victorino, playing center field for
the injured Jacoby Ellsbury, was turned around on the play and the ball fell in the gap for a triple. Granderson scored on a groundout, but that was the only time a runner would reach
third base.
With a runner on first base and two outs in the eighth, Lester ended his day in style, fielding a hard-hit ground ball that was coming for his head and throwing it to first base for his final out of the game. Lester walked off to a standing ovation. He had just
eclipsed the 201-innings mark for the season.
But instead of breaking down late in the season, Lester has thrown eight straight quality starts since Aug. 8, posting a 1.83 ERA.
It was a fitting end to C.C. Sabathia's season at Fenway Park, where he allowed 18 runs in 16 1/3 innings (9.92 ERA). Sabathia allowed 13 baserunners (nine hits, four walks), five of
which scored, as he labored over six innings of work. He finished the regular season with a 7.22 ERA over five starts against the Red Sox.
Mike Napoli and Jonny Gomes each reached base four times out of the Nos. 4-5 spots, respectively, to lead the
Red Sox offensively. The top five batters in the lineup combined to go 8-for-16 with four walks, four runs and three RBIs, while five different Sox recorded an RBI.
The 91-59 Red Sox are 32 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2004 season. Their magic number to win the American League East was reduced to six. The Sox have won nine of their last 11 games and are 16-4 since Aug. 24. With only 12 games
to play, the Sox have the best record in baseball. |
