Jon Lester took the mound today in the first game of the doubleheader against the Rays. Lester was up against one of the Rays best pitchers, James Shields. Shields has been a monster workhorse for the Rays this year, pitching complete games like his name is Roy Halladay.
Lester started off with a little bit of trouble allowing one run to score in the first inning. Lester gave up a leadoff double to Desmond Jennings and then allowed Jennings to score on a Longoria ground out to first base. Lester gave up another double to Zobrist, but limited the damage to just one run.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
The Sox showed they had Lester’s back in the 3rd inning when they gave him the lead back. Josh Reddick and Mike Aviles both got on base with singles when Jacoby Ellsbury came to the plate. Ellsbury hit his 21st HR of the season to give Lester a 3-1 lead. In the end, that is all Lester would need since he settled down well. Lester pitched 7 strong innings, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB and 8 Ks. After that first inning, the Rays were only able to get one more hit against him. Bard came out and had himself a mighty pretty 1-2-3 inning and then Pap followed him with a 1-2-3 inning of his own. Pap’s 3rd out was a breathtaking catch from Pedroia that robbed Upton of a base hit to end the game.
And as a foot note, James Shields pitched another complete game, but he took the loss in his pitching effort. He didn’t pitch badly and really only suffered by making one bad pitch to Ellsbury.
Tonight, the Sox face the Rays again. This time it will be Erik Bedard vs. Jeff Niemann. Let’s Go Sox!
Red Sox 3 Rays 1 BOXSCORE
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