It certainly doesn’t take much of an imagination to conjure up where the Red Sox would be this season without Jon Lester.
They opened a three-city, 11-day road trip last night against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards trailing first-place Tampa Bay by 4 games in the AL East, but without the clutch work of Lester it is quite possible the Sox would be left by the side of the road, ruefully watching the Rays’ taillights fade in the distance. Last night, the lefty demonstrated once again why he has become the Sox’ most valuable pitcher with seven dominant innings in a crucial 6-3 win. Lester (12-4) allowed only one run on four hits, while striking out five batters and walking one. He ended a Sox losing streak for the fifth time this season. Enhancing his status as a stopper, he improved to 5-1 with a 1.41 ERA in nine starts followi ng Sox defeats this season, including a dazzling 5-0 with a 1.01 ERA in the last six.
Jason Bay hit two home runs and drove in four runs, while Varitek added a solo shot, providing Lester sufficient support. Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (10-9), who had won his previous four starts, was saddled with the loss despite allowing only two runs on five hits in seven innings. Lester didn’t exactly inherit an enviable situation. The Sox were swept in a rain-abbreviated, two-game series over the weekend by the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway park, capped by a humbling 15-4 defeat Sunday. The Orioles, meanwhile, had won four of their last five, including Sunday’s 16-8 pounding of the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. But it mattered little to Lester, who improved to 3-0 with a 0.29 ERA in four starts after Sox sweeps. The entire rotation has gone 8-0 with a 0.31 ERA following a sweep.
Aubrey Huff’s solo homer in the fourth made matters uncomfortable for three innings. Baltimore threatened to tie it in the seventh after Kevin Millar poked a one-out double into the left field corner, but Lester dug in and struck out Luke Scott on a looping curveball and got Jay Payton to ground out.
Buoyed by the narrow escape, the Sox responded with a pair of runs in the eighth against reliever Rocky Cherry to provide Lester a bit of a cushion. Millar mishandled a David Ortiz leadoff grounder to first for an error and Bay capitalized two batters later by crushing another homer over the center field wall. Bay’s 25th clout of the season accounted for his 12th career two-homer game.
The runs proved to be crucial when the Orioles cut it to 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth as Huff’s double off Jonathan Paplebon brought home a pair of runners who Manny Delcarmen had walked with two outs. The Sox got the runs back in the ninth, however, on Ortiz’ RBI double off right-hander Jim Johnson and Bay’s run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder.
Nation Notes: It appears unlikely Tim Wakefield will come off the disabled list when he’s eligible Sunday. The Sox want Wakefield to throw at least two side sessions, possibly three, before returning. Julio Lugo hit in the cage yesterday for the first time since tearing his left quadriceps. Lugo estimated that he would need a couple of more days of hitting, and that he might be able to go out on a rehab assignment in about a week.
