With the Sox in desperate need of a win and innings from a starter, Lester delivered a gem tonight in his first Yankee Stadium start. (9 innings, no runs, 5 hits) The Sox have bigger names in their starting rotation (Beckett/Dice-K), they have guys with more veteran experience (Wakefield), and they even have prospects who came into the year with more buzz (Bucholtz). However, the best pitcher for the Sox this year has been Jon Lester. His last 10 starts look like this:
9 innings/ 0 runs
5 innings/ 6 runs
6 innings/2 runs
9 innings/ 0 runs/0 hits.
5 innings/4 runs
5 innings/ 3 runs
6 innings/ 1 run
7 innings/ 2 runs
7 innings/0 runs
7 innings/ 2 runs
Overall pretty impressive and consistent stuff and at times like tonight his performance has been ace like.