Jon Lester News

Lester says he only wants one pitch back
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October 20
Boston Globe
 
"Jon Lester walked onto the mound last night charged with ensuring he would make that walk again this year. The Rays had thumped him in his last outing, and he had never lost consecutive starts in his career. He expected he would transform back to the same scowling, measured Texan who blew through the Los Angeles Angels. But Lester again ran into another flamethrowing 24-year-old in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. Matt Garza and the Tampa Bay Rays beat Lester for the second time in six days, depriving him for now of his status as a burgeoning postseason legend and the new, untouchable ace of the Boston Red Sox. Lester felt no shame in his performance, seven innings during ..."
Jon Lester solid, left with disappointment
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October 20
Boston Herald
 
"Last October, Jon Lester was on the mound for the final game of the Red Sox season. It happened again last night, but the circumstances were far less joyous. Last October, Lester started Game 4 as the Sox finished off their World Series sweep of the Colorado Rockies. Last night, he was the starter and loser as the Sox dropped Game 7 of the American League Championship Series to the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-1. Lester pitched seven innings and allowed all three Tampa Bay runs, walking none and striking out eight. “I thought Jon was tremendous,” manager Terry Francona said. “I thought he pitched very, very well.” Lester retired the first nine hitters he faced before the Rays nicked him for a solo ..."
Same old game
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October 19
Boston Herald
 
"Jon Lester could not have had much more of an abnormal day yesterday. For the first time all year, Lester spent a day preparing for a game tonight - Game 7 of the ALCS - despite having no idea if it would be played. The Sox’ 4-2 victory assured that his work wasn’t for naught, but before the game Lester had the same deadpan delivery and steely-eyed gaze he always does. “You just have to do the same routine that you would if it’s a regular-season game,” Lester said. “You know, I’ve done the same workouts, prepared the same, done everything that I normally do in between starts. It’s just a matter of mentally staying focused enough (last night) and (today) to come out (tonight) and pitch a ..."
For Lester, two poor pitches lead to disaster
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October 14
Boston Globe
 
"Reviewing his Game 3 performance, Jon Lester kept coming back to two pitches - a misplaced fastball and a backdoor cutter that morphed into more of a slider. Two pitches. Two mistakes. Two home runs for the Tampa Bay Rays in the third inning. B.J. Upton sent the fastball soaring into left field for a three-run homer. Evan Longoria lifted the cutter-turned-slider out of Fenway Park for a solo home run. For Lester, the two pitches meant the difference between another strong posteason outing and a stinging 9-1 loss to Tampa Bay. It also marked the end of an impressive postseason streak for the lefthander. Before yesterday Lester had not given up an earned run in four postseason appearances, ..."
Jon Lester’s dominance takes big hit from pesky visitors
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October 14
Boston Herald
 
"Jon Lester wasn’t just a good bet yesterday to put the Red Sox ahead in their American League Championship Series with the Tampa Bay Rays, he seemingly was a lock. In three starts against these same Rays during the season, Lester was 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA. In two Division Series starts, Lester didn’t allow a single earned run in 14 innings. But in the span of three hitters in the third inning yesterday, Lester was stripped of his invincibility. The Rays had two on and no outs when he failed to bury a fastball in to B.J. Upton, and the Rays center fielder drove it over everything in left. Minutes later, a pitch designed to be a backdoor cutter to Evan Longoria instead suspiciously resembled a ..."
Jon Lester rocked, Sox lose swing game at Fenway
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October 14
Boston Herald
 
"Red Sox starting pitching has gone from great in one game to gruesome in the next two. No surprise, the Sox are two losses from beginning their winter vacation. Jon Lester’s surprisingly poor and ineffective start at home in Game 3 of the ALCS led directly to a 9-1 Red Sox loss yesterday. The Rays lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1. Tim Wakefield will get a chance tonight to turn the tide, with the unpredictable flight of his knuckleball the perfect image for the out-of-nowhere performance of Lester, who allowed eight hits and five runs (four earned) in 5 innings. The left-hander’s Fenway Park dominance this season (11-1, 2.49 ERA) meant squat on a day when the Rays jumped all over his ..."
Rays bash Lester, take 2-1 ALCS lead
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October 14
St. Petersburg Times
 
"As Monday's sunny afternoon turned into chilly evening and Game 3 of the AL Championship Series ended in a 9-1 victory, there were several moments when the Rays had a sense of how well things were going. There was the way Matt Garza established his aggressiveness on the mound in the first few innings. There were the two home runs a dozen pitches apart in the third inning, a three-run B.J. Upton blast that went over the Green Monster and onto Lansdowne Street, and a solo shot by Evan Longoria. There was the zero, one of six, Garza put on the old green scoreboard in the crucial next inning. There was the three-run homer by New England native son Rocco Baldelli that expanded the Rays' lead to ..."
Postseason wins are part of Lester's routine
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October 13
Boston Globe
 
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