Now THAT'S The Jon Lester We Know & Love

On a day designed for pitching, not hitting, the Jon Lester of 2008 returned with a vengence Sunday afternoon at Friendly Fenway. The Baltimore Orioles fell to the Boston Red Sox by a score of 2-1. Baltimore players and coaches went over films (tapes) of Lester's last couple of starts and noticed a difference...his fastball was topping off at around 90. Yesterday, his first pitch was clocked at 96 MPH. Maybe he was trying to prove a point. Whatever he was thinking, it worked. He did not allow a single run in his seven innings on the mound. Bird's first baseman Aubrey Huff said this, followed by Jon Lester...

"He was back to his old self," Huff said. "It kind of caught you by surprise a little. I think he might have been a little pissed off at the 0-2 start. I've seen him some times, I don't know how many at-bats I have off him, but today is as good as I've seen him throw against us."

"It just reiterates in the back of your mind that, 'OK, nothing is wrong, I'm still OK,' " Lester said. "It was nice today to go out and throw the ball well again and get the results I wanted to."

So all is right, or almost right, in Red Sox Nation and Red Sox International. The team has won four games in a row, four games with lumber and pitching. David Ortiz is still mired in a slump but he'll get out of it. I know that. Josh Beckett's suspension was lowered to five games, meaning he will not miss a start. He will take the Fenway mound on Saturday against the Yankees. And remember, today is Patriots Day in Massachusetts so the Boston/Baltimore game will begin around 11am EDT. It'll be Justin Masterson versus Mark Hedrikson. Have a great Monday, hope the rain holds off and as always, be well. See ya. Click on the title of this post for more on yesterday's fourth win in a row for our good guys. GO SOX.