The Red Sox were riding a 3 game winning streak and were handing the ball over to Jon Lester in hopes of keeping the trend of quality starting pitching going. That is just what Lester did. He not only gave a quality start, but he pitched a complete game and was “this close” to pitching a shutout.
Lester looked great from the first inning and kept it up the entire game. Lester didn’t give up a hit until he was into the 4th inning when he gave up an infield single to Ichiro Suzuki. In the 6th, Lester gave up 2 singles but none of them came home to score. In the 7th, Lester also got himself into a wee bit of trouble, but a sick defensive play by Dustin Pedroia that led to a double play and once again Lester was out of the inning. Lester went back out for the 9th and the Mariners were able to get one run against him. Lester gave up a single and a double and then Seager ended up getting the only run on a sac grounder. However, Lester still looked tremendous. Lester’s line was 119 pitches, 9 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 Ks. Lester’s ERA is now down to 3.71. I know many question if he is a true ace, however he sure looked like an ace last night. I hope we see a lot more of that version of Lester in his starts to come. Good job Jonny!
Photo Credit: Jim Rogash/Getty Images
The Red Sox offense also got some work done. The Sox got on the board early with RBI doubles back to back from Papi and Gonzo. Sox 2-0. In the 4th inning, Daniel Nava hit a 2 run HR to put the Sox up 4-0. This was Nava’s first HR with the Sox since his Grand Slam HR at his Sox debut. Shoppach followed Nava’s lead and hit a solo HR over the Monster. Sox 5-0. The final Sox run was scored in the 8th with a Marlon Byrd sac fly. Sox 6-0.
All in all, it was a great win. Timely hitting from all areas of the lineup and some tremendous pitching. The Sox still have a lot of work to do, however they are showing a lot of grit and fight in them lately.
Red Sox 6 Mariners 1 BOXSCORE
WP: Lester (2-3) LP: Vargas (4-3)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
