Lester Sharp As The Red Sox Sweep The Blue Jays Out Of Town...Boston 5 Toronto 1

Boston Red Sox rightfielder Jason Bay got his team off to a zooming start in the first inning Thursday night, clubbing a three run home run that actually hit the top of the outfield wall, bounced into the Sox bullpen and then to the crowd. I thought it would be caught and so did Jason. He said this after the game...

"I think I had just rounded first, because it was hit fairly high, so I had time to get around first," Bay said. "I thought he had caught it. It was actually kind of the reaction of the crowd that let me know that it didn't get caught."

This game belonged to Jon Lester, though, as he returned to the form Red Sox Nation knows so well. He was disgusted with himself after giving away a four run lead in Seattle last week and he vowed to work his hardest to return to the Lester we know and love. He did just that and put it this way...

“I feel a lot better about myself than I did my last start,” Lester said. “There’s still some things we need to work on and improve on, but I made some good strides tonight and pitched out of some jams. After my last start, I didn’t sit in the clubhouse and beat myself up and feel sorry for myself,” he said. “We’ve got 25 other guys on the team that don’t need to see me sitting sulking in my locker.”

He was, in a word, terrific. The Red Sox swept the overacheiving Blue Jays and actually are one game ahead of them in the loss column. The NY Yankees kept their winning streak going, taking their ninth in a row. But now it's time for inter-league baseball with three games against the struggling Mets. Let's hope their struggles continue. Here are the pitching matchups for the Fenway Park series...

Santana (5-2, 1.36) vs. Matsuzaka (0-1, 12.79) tonight 7:10pm EDT
Mike Pelfrey (4-1, 4.61) vs. Josh Beckett (4-2, 5.85) Saturday 7:10pm EDT
Tim Redding (0-0, 3.00) vs. Wakefield (5-2, 3.59) Sunday 1:35pm EDT

I hope Daisuke will be able to have a great start. Ever since the World Baseball Classic, he hasn't been right but he's been building the strength in his money shoulder for the past few weeks. There will be a designated hitter in the series because the games are at Fenway. It should be fun, three games of fun. First place is ours for the taking...I was not impressed with Toronto at all. The exception is when Roy "Doc" Halladay is on the mound. He might be the best pitcher in all of baseball. Right now, he is.

OH, I almost forget to mention this momentous Sox news...John Smoltz, recovering from shoulder surgery performed last summer, threw three scoreless innings Thursday for the Red Sox's Class A affilliate in Greenville. In his first game action in almost a year, he struck out two and threw 29 pitches. That's a good start and I hope to see him take the mound at Fenway by mid to late June. Wow...that's all I can say. What an addition to an "already getting better" starting rotation.

OK, I've rambled on long enough. You can click on this post's title for more on the Red Sox from SI. Have a great long holiday weekend, leave a comment if you can and as always, BE WELL. See you...soon.