Lester stumbles in Chicago

For a few wonderful moments in the top of the seventh inning, it looked like the Red Sox bats were going to bail out Jon Lester. With the Red Sox trailing 6-2 to the White Sox, Will Middlebrooks came to the plate with nobody out and two men on base, and doubled to left field scoring David Ortiz and Mike Napoli.

Sadly, four runs were all the Red Sox could muster, and it wasn't enough on a night when Jon Lester didn't have it. It's something of a pattern for Lester against Chicago's AL team, as the lefty is just 4-5 in his career with a 5.43 ERA in ten starts - much below his career stats against all teams, 91-49 with a 3.73 ERA.

It's actually reassuring that Lester has a pattern of mediocrity against the White Sox - I'd much rather have him predictably struggle against this one team than have last night's performance be a harbinger of things to come. A one-time poor start that can be explained is preferable to a mysterious downward spiral any day of the week, and though Lester's chokefest seriously damaged my fantasy stats, I'm confident that he'll make it up to me in his next outing.

Red Sox sweep Twins

After a four-game sweep of the Twins, the Red Sox head to Chicago to face the White Sox. We were going through a bit of a rough patch for a while, but in the last week the Red Sox have won five of six games, boosting their season record to 27-17, just a half game behind the Yankees in the AL East.

Yesterday's game was particularly strange, as it spanned about six hours in order to accomodate a three hour rain delay after the top of the seventh inning. John Lackey got the win, going six innings and allowing just one hit - the run he gave up was unearned.

Three hours after Lackey tossed his final pitch, Andrew Miller took the mound for the seventh inning, before handing the ball off to Koji Uehara for the eighth, and then Junichi Tazawa for the ninth. The three gave up a combined four hits, one walk, and earned six strikeouts in the final three innings.

On the offensive side of things, Dustin Pedroia hit his second home run of the season, and Will Middlebrooks hit his eighth, leading the Sox to a 5-1 win. It's certainly nice to be back on track, and the  White Sox shouldn't provide too much of a stumbling block as the Red Sox try to keep their momentum going.

Is David Ortiz even real?

Last night, David Ortiz hit two homeruns, to bring his season total to seven, tied with Mike Napoli and Will Middlebrooks for most on the Red Sox. The crazy thing is that Big Papi has played just 24 games so far this season, while Middlebrooks and Napoli have both been on the field since Opening Day.

Ortiz's six RBIs in last night's contest brought his season total to 29. It's easy to forget (it seems like Papi has been a Red Sox forever), but David Ortiz started his career as a Twin, playing in Minnesota for six seasons before joining the Red Sox in 2003 - and the rest is history.

Since he's been to Boston, Ortiz has absolutely raked against his former team, hitting .332 with fifteen homers and 43 RBIs in 53 games in the last decade against the Twins. Before last night's game, Ortiz was interviewed on NESN, and when he was asked if he makes any extra effort when playing the Twins, as if to prove to them what they're missing. He gave his trademarked smile, and said, "I think they already know."