Projo Sports Blog

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- The sellout crowd at Fenway Park could sense early on that it was going to be another special night for Jon Lester.

His first pitch was a 95 mile-per-hour fastball right down the middle for a strike. Six pitches later, he struck out Brian Roberts with a 96 mile-per-hour heater. That was the first of nine strikeouts on the night for the left-handed flame-thrower. And the Red Sox, riding the strong arm of Lester and the big bats of David Ortiz and Jacoby Ellsbury, beat Baltimore, 7-2, to capture their second consecutive victory and their 11th straight win over Baltimore at Fenway Park.

Lester, who is now tied for third in the American League in strikeouts (146) with Kansas City's Zach Greinke, never lost rhythm in what was another solid performance (7.1 innings, 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks). He struck out three of the first four batters that he faced, had four strikeouts after just two innings of work, and six strikeouts through three frames.

He received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 38,063.

Lester has allowed three earned runs or less in each of his last 10 starts since May 31, including six starts of one earned run or less. He is 21-5 in his career at Fenway Park.

Ortiz gave the Red Sox a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when he crushed a two-out, 1-0, Jeremy Guthrie pitch over the 380-foot fence in left-center field for a 3-run homer. It was his 13th home run of the season, his 12th home run since June 6, and it extended his hitting streak to six games.

An Ellsbury RBI double in the bottom of the second frame that scored Jason Varitek gave the Red Sox a 4-0 cushion. That was more than enough run support for Lester. He wasn't perfect though. Baltimore slashed Boston's lead to 4-2 in the top of the fourth inning on three hits and a walk.

First Matt Wieters ripped a two-out single to right field that scored Nolan Reimold. Cesar Izturis then hit a soft ground ball to third base that Mike Lowell could not corral it in time to throw Izturis out at first. Ty Wigginton sprinted home from third base on the play, making it a two-run game.

But Boston came right back with a run in the bottom of the fourth when Ellsbury connected with another RBI double, this time scoring Nick Green with two outs. Adam LaRoche, making his first start in a Red Sox uniform, sent the first pitch he saw from Mark Hendrickson over the Green Monster in left field for a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the game out of reach.

 Tags  Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox David Ortiz Jacoby Ellsbury Jon Lester Rob Lee Robert Lee

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