Lester's Playoff Tune-up

The Sox hit the ground running and racked up 5 runs in the 1st two innings of today’s game, starting with an Ellsbury single on the 2nd pitch he saw. Given that cushion, Lester toyed with the Tribe for the rest of the game, flirting with history yet again. Except for 1 pitch, that 1 lousy pitch, ball #4 to Kelly Shoppach, Lester had a perfect game through 5 innings! No hits, no WP’s, no HBP, no errors, just that 1 pitch. He ended up with an interesting line: 6 IP, 2 hits, 1 BB, 1 ER, 1 WP, 1 Balk, 1 HBP, 4 K’s, 86 pitches (55 for strikes.) In a breakout season- which was highlighted by a no-hitter against KC in May- he finished with a 16-6 record and a 3.21 ERA. He also produced his staff-leading 20th quality start. Tito is keeping his main guys in the ‘pen sharp: Masterson came in for the 7th, Oki in the 8th, and Pap in the 9th. Those three combined for a perfect final 3 innings with 0 BB’s, 0 hits, 0 runs, and 1 K each. Offensively, Ellsbury, Lowrie, and Youk each had 2 hits and each scored 2 runs, including Youk’s #28 ‘tater.

The Tigers had seafood for dinner today, munching on the Ray’s and beating them 7-5.
And in Toronto, the Jay’s knocked the yanks around 8-2 in the battle for 3rd place.

SOX WIN 6-1 BOX SCORE