By FRED KERBER
Last updated: 7:17 am
July 4, 2008
Posted: 4:37 am
July 4, 2008
Jon Lester thought he made some good pitches early. But all the Red Sox lefty had to show for his labor was two Yanks on via walks in the first inning.
"It was tough. There were a couple pitches that could have gone either way, and they didn't go my way. You just change your mindset to minimize damage the best you can," said Lester, 24, who overcame lymphoma two years ago then pitched a no-hitter May 19 in one of the feel-good stories of the millennium.
"That's what I tried to do. I was fortunate to get a ground ball from Bobby [Abreu] and a couple strikeouts."
Fortunate? Nah, he was more than that.
"He really looked like a 6-foot-5 major league left-hander out there. He really pitched well," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona after Lester (7-3) in his first appearance at the Stadium, snuffed the Yankees 7-0 to end Boston's five-game skid with a complete-game, eight-strikeout, five-hitter.
After that force play by Abreu, Lester was anything but safe. Up came Alex Rodriguez. Down went Alex Rodriguez swinging. Up came Jason Giambi. Down went Jason Giambi swinging.
"I executed some pitches and I got A-Rod to swing at a bad pitch," said Lester (104 pitches, 72 strikes). "It's a tough lineup. No breaks. You have to focus on every pitch, and it happened to go my way tonight."
Said Derek Jeter, "He was throwing down and in and made you chase."
And Lester gave the Sox exactly what they needed. After expending their bullpen in Tampa, the Sox sat back and watched Lester carve up the Yanks.
"Jon, rather than getting frustrated, made pitches," Francona said, "worked ahead all night, used [all his pitches], got a lot of first pitch strikes got some double plays."
The way the Yanks looked against Lester - whom they battered senseless in his only other appearance against them (Aug. 18, 2006 at Boston, seven runs, eight hits in 32/3 IP) - their postgame team meeting was warranted. That or a group session of jumping off a cliff.
