Red Sox Ace Jon Lester KO's Tribe...Boston Red Sox 6 Cleveland Indians 1

Jon Lester led the Boston Red Sox to a 6-1 Thursday night Fenway Park victory, ending the season series with the Indians. And he did it in style, not allowing a hit until the sixth inning. Lester was on a Tito Francona-imposed pitch count of 85, and even if the no hitter was intact through six, he would have come out of the game. Think of all the boos that would have echoed throughout the park! Lester becomes the first Red Sox lefty to win at least 16 games since Bruce Hurst accomplished the feat in 1988. He also became the first Sox lefty to top 200 ininngs pitched since Frankie Viola in 1992. With that in mind, he said this...

"For me, I associate that (200 plus innings) with guys like a Beckett, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, guys that are pretty much the horses of the team," Lester said. "They're going to go out there and pound the strike zone and give you good efforts every night. That's an honor to me, to get to that number. Early on, I struggled a little bit in April. Beginning of May, I hit a good streak for a couple of months and really felt comfortable with myself as a pitcher, mechanically and confidence-wise. I felt like I kept building. It's always good to end the year on a win."

Peter here, and what a one-two punch he and Josh Beckett will make in the postseason, with Daisuke right on their heels. Boston, with that rotation, is capable of doing some damage to the opposing team's October hopes and dreams. And that's just fine with me! GREAT JOB, JON

Tonight, the final three games of the season begin, weather permitting. I think we might not see Fenway baseball until Sunday, MAYBE Saturday. Just in case, here are the pitching matchups for the final regular season games, meaningless though they are...

Alfredo Aceves (1-0, 1.38 ERA) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-2, 2.80) tonight
Sidney Ponson (8-5, 5.21) vs. Josh Beckett (12-10, 4.03) Saturday
Mike Mussina (19-9, 3.47) vs. Tim Wakefield (10-11, 4.24) Sunday

Well, that's it for this rain soaked Friday. I wish you the best for the upcoming weekend as we try to watch a little baseball tonight at 7:05pm EDT. Mama Weather might not cooperate, however, but after Tampa Bay wins one more game, and they will, it's all over anyways, and the trip to the left coast will become reality. We'd have to face the Angels eventually, so we might as well face them first thing. Wednesday or Thursday? That remains to be determined. You can click on this post's title for more, and as always, BE WELL. Forever.