It was definitely nice to see my man Jon Lester come out and dominate on the mound again. Dating back to April 28th, Lester is 6-0 for the Sox, bringing his overall record to 6-2. He and Clay Buchholz, in just his second full season with the Red Sox, have really held this rotation together.
It's refreshing to see these two young stars display their potential and really take control of the game every time out.
I must say, the emergence of Buchholz was a surprise for me. I didn't know if he could figure out how to pitch after years of being simply a thrower. He knows what he's going to do out there, what pitches he wants to throw, and he executes them. He still walks a lot of batters, but his devastating changeup has helped him work his way out of multiple jams this season.
Next up for the Red Sox, after a much needed day off, is a home game against the Oakland A's. Hopefully Sox starter, John Lackey can build on the success of his last start against the Rays--6 IP, 2 ER.
This month of June will be a critical one for the Sox as a team, but mainly for three players, Ortiz, Lackey and Cameron. Ortiz has been a mainstay in the Red Sox' offense for years and if he can continue to hit like he has in May, the doubters will start to scatter like roaches.
As for Lackey and Cameron, it will be important for the Sox two struggling free agent pickups to continue to build off of their recent success. Cameron has had two or more hits in three of his last four games.
Lackey just came off one of his gutsiest performances of the spring. though he struggled, he found a way to get through 6 1/3 innings against baseball's best team while giving up only two runs. This was Lackey's first quality start since May 5th against the LA Angels, his former team.
There's still plenty of season left for the Red Sox to move back into contention, but they have to continue to play like they have been, or it will be a fire-sale in 'Beantown' come the trade deadline.
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