Lesters Dominates, Bay Blasts and Red Sox Win Game One Over Angels 4-1

WOW! Watching Jon Lester wriggle out of early inning mini-jams and then getting stronger and stronger as the game rolled by made me say just that after his brilliant outing was finished. The only run he allowed was an unearned one, unearned because of a rare Jed Lowrie fielding miscue. But Jason Bay's sixth inning shot off John Lackey in his third ever postseason at bat plated two and that was all the defending world champs needed. They won the game by a score of 4-1 after tacking on two pad runs in the top of the ninth before Papelbon came on and struck out the side in the bottom half of the frame. Jon Lester was magnificent, going seven full and allowing that one unearned run and six hits, walking only one and whiffing seven. I can't wait to see him at Fenway in game four on Monday, a game that WILL happen unless the Sox win two straight. Even though I love 'em, to win three straight from the Halos would be hard to imagine. But back to last night! Jacoby Ellsbury continues to get steaming hot. He had three base hits and made an ESPN highlight reel catch in the eighth inning, a fly ball that NO ONE thought he could reach. He has a fifth gear, an overdrive that he can access to give him a turbocharged burst of speed, and he used exactly that last night. Make sure you see the replay.

Angel manager Mike Sciocia had this to say about Boston starter Jon Lester, and then Jonathon Papelbon described his team's state of mind for us...

“I thought Lester threw some breaking balls behind in counts which got him back into counts and a curve that he was throwing inside to some of our righties,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said, “and he had great stuff and he pitched a great ballgame.”

“We’re a bunch of stubborn, groovy guys,” Papelbon said of the team’s resilience. “It’s awesome. Guys in this clubhouse just expect that everyone’s going to lay it on the line for everyone else.”

Peter here. Paps, I'm groovy, you're groovy, the team is groovy, but more importantly, the Boston Red Sox have a 1-0 lead in this best of five ALDS series. Game two will be Friday, so both bullpens, including Paps, who only tossed thirteen pitches, will be fresh and ready to go. Dausuke Matsuzaka will go against Ervin Santana. If Daisuke has his control harnassed, he can be as tough as anyone in baseball. Let's say they win Friday night. A 2-0 lead with Beckett to (hopefully) go Monday for Boston would be close to an insurmountable lead. But we'll take it one game at a time and enjoy this day off. Tampa Bay and the White Sox start their series shortly after 2:30 pm EDT (TBS and TBS HD) followed by a 6pm EDT Brewers at Philadelphia game two. Game two between the Dodgers and Cubbies will follow that at approx. 9:30pm EDT. All are on TBS and TBS HD. Hey, we're running out of daylight savings time...I just realized that!

Enjoy this day off and bask in the glow of a resounding Boston victory. I have to say this again...Matsuzaka MUST have his control on Friday night. We need him to go six (or seven?) strong and we'll score enough runs to win. Boy, would that flight home be nice if that happened! But don't forget this...winning game one was SO important. You can click on this post's title for more on the California dreaming, and as always, BE WELL. I'd love to hear your thoughts about last night or about ANYTHING Sox. Thanks for stopping in...love ya all!