Jon Lester's Victory!

Jon Lester made a triumphant return to the major leagues as he led his Boston Red Sox to a 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. He threw 96 pitches in his six innings, giving up two runs and only five hits while walking three. The bullpen, in the form of Mike Timlin, Javy Lopez and Manny Delcarmen, held the Indians scoreless over the final three frames. And the offense provided an immediate cushion for Lester, scoring four runs in the first and another one in the second. The Indians' runs came on a two run home run by Grady Sizemore in the third inning. It was an emotional night for Jon and his Mom and Dad, who were in attendance and on camera often. When Lester takes the mound for his first start at Fenway, the seismic waves generated by the crowd's love will rock New England from Maine to Connecticut. And I have to add this blurb from today's Boston Herald. So sweet.........

"He’s progressively taking steps,” catcher Jason Varitek said. “His cutter was a little shorter, but outside of that he’s pretty close to the same. He has a little better feel on certain pitches at different times. It’s just taking steps, taking steps to being complete.
It was safe to say that for the first time in a long time, Lester felt pretty darn complete last night.
“Just pitching,” he said when asked what was the best thing about the night. “Just being able to pitch again. . . . It’s just nice to be back.”

Peter here. "Just pitching." Congratulations Jon. See you in five days, pitching your heart out yet again. Coco Crisp continued his torrid streak with four base hits. Peds had three and Youk and Manny each had two. Together the first four batters in the lineup collected eleven hits. If the Sox continue to score four or more runs in most of their games, the sky is the limit for this team. But the Yankees remain hot. They also won their fourth in a row last night behind great pitching by Clemens.

Tonight, Daisuke Matsuzaka will try to find his control and regain his form. He'll be faced by the Indian's Sabathia, a tough customer. But the Sox are playing good ball, and I expect them to win. Daisuke is due for a stellar outing.

I hope you all enjoyed Jon Lester's start last night as much as I did. It felt good to be alive. And that's what it's all about, isn't it? Click on the title of this post for more on our man Jon, and thank you for stopping by. Comments are always welcome. What did you think of Jon Lester last night?