Lester Solid, Pedey Goes Long & Boston Red Sox Beat Diamondbacks...Celtics/Lakers Game 7

Jon Lester had to make an adjustment last night as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Arizona Diamonbacks by a score of 6-2. He threw two change-ups during the first three frames and upped that count to 12 of 'em over the next four. Guess what. It worked. Here's the man himself...

“We had to mix in something soft tonight,” Lester said. “They’re a very good fastball hitting team. Guys with a lot of power, and you have to mix something soft in there to get them off that fastball. I was able to do that.”

He sure was! Bard and Ramirez, with a little help from Papelbon because Ramirez was laboring, put up goose eggs in the eighth and ninth innings. Pedey Pedroia continued to show everyone that his knee injury is a thing of the past. His manager, Terry Francona, had this to say...

“The good thing about it is he always puts the bat on the ball, and that always seems to help when you’re able to put the bat on the ball and find holes. Sometimes he overworks himself. We’ve got to keep him from going out for early hitting sometimes. He’s a good hitter, for one, and never, never doubts his confidence in himself "

And Pedey himself...

"I’m feeling better, that’s the biggest thing,” Pedroia said. “The MRI definitely helped me to know that nothing’s wrong. I’m feeling better. In a couple of weeks, it healed.”

That's a good thing, too. Kevin Youkilis smashed a long tater that went over EVERYTHING in left, out into the Boston night. He got it all. Boston has made a habit lately of taking the first two games of a three game series and this one was no exception. They go for the sweep tonight at 6pm EDT (early start because of the Celtics game) with John Lacky on the mound. He'll face Arizona's best, the 7-4 Haren. The Fenway Faithful should be able to get home and see all or most of game 7 of the Lakers/Celtics series. This is going to be a tough one for the green team. They are Kendrick Perkins-less and they are playing on the Laker's home court. But, as Ray Allen said, "This one is for all the marbles." I'm sure ABC, who will televise the game with a pre-game show at 8:30pm EDT and tip off at 9pm EDT, must be very happy with the series going all the way.

Enjoy your Boston "doubleheader" tonight and click on this post's title for more about the big game. Have a great Thursday and as always, BE WELL. Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it more than you'll ever know. See ya.