Red Sox starter and winner Jon Lester shows his
dominant form last night vs. Toronto
(AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Darren Calabrese)
Well, that’s more like it.
The Boston Red Sox evened their record at 11-11 against the Toronto Blue Jays last night behind starter Jon Lester, who struck out 11 batters in his seven innings of work. The 2-0 victory snapped a streak of six consecutive one-run wins, and it was the first time in a long time that one felt even remotely like the dice were rolling according to plan.
Lester was absolutely dominant, allowing only one hit and two walks, and finishing with a flourish by striking out the first and third batters of his last inning. Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon then continued the trend, the former using his 98-99-100 mph fastball to fan the side in the eighth (giving up one hit in the process), and the latter recording his seventh save (in seven attempts) with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Sure, the Sox didn’t hit especially well, and kudos for that must be given to the Toronto mound corps for scattering eight hits and walking only one. But the club in many ways did reverse its recent tendencies by getting a (high) quality game from its starter, solid middle relief and a save from its bullpen, and an error-free performance by its position players.
In other words, pitching and defense won the game last night, just as they were intended to do all along.
And that’s more like it.
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