Back In The Fold

Jon Lester made his return to the big leagues last night in impressive fashion. You would think that Boston would have waited for his time to come in the comfy confines of one Fenway Park, however the time was now to get Julian Tavarez to the bullpen.

All Lester did last night, after learning 11 months earlier he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, then overcoming the disease, then after a few setbacks in AAA Pawtucket, he reclaimed his starting position by going out and beating the team that has the best home record in all of baseball in their house. It’s truly a great story among all the steroid talk with Barry Bonds, the dog fighting allegations with Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick in the Numerous Felons League and the NBA now having to deal with rogue referee Tim Donaghy’s gambling addiction spilling over into possible points shaving. It’s nice to know that there are still some stories out there that encompass the personal triumph each of us are capable of if faced with adversity.

Last night's start obviously meant a great deal to Lester himself, but also to the entire team. It may be the kick in the pants the Sox need to get focused and keep their lead in the AL East. I don’t think that they should be above using inspiration from an inspiring story and applying it to themselves and the team as a whole. Ordeals like this can either pull a team together fighting for a common cause, or it can drive home the fact that you are playing on a team of individuals. I would like to think the former comes into play with this Red Sox team.

Looking at his pitching numbers from last night against one of the most dangerous teams in baseball, it’s easy to see that the young lefty’s comeback effort was equally as great of a story, at least for today. Lester only allowed five hits and two runs while striking out six, including one in dramatic fashion against Indians CF Grady Sizemore with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 5^th inning.

The Sox lineup did all they could to give Lester a hand by jumping out to a four run lead in the top of the 1^st against Indians hurler Jake Westbrook. CF Coco Crisp went to work right away at the beginning of the game with a leadoff single into left field. Crisp would go 4-for-5 with three runs scored for Boston. Crisp is doing his best in the leadoff spot going 14-for-29 in the last week. Manny is also coming back around in the second half which will be much needed if regular DH David Ortiz continues to break down.

Boston will need more of the offensive firepower they’ve displayed the past few days against Indian’s top pitcher, C.C. Sabathia (13-4). The Sox will counter with Daisuke Matsuzaka (11-7) at 6:05 for those in the middle of the country.