Sox: 2 Twins: 5
What is it about Lester and the fifth inning? After shutting the Minny dome-dwellers out through the first four, the fifth is once again his Waterloo. That is, he flushed a Sox win down the loo with a five-run fifth on four hits and a walk. One of those hits happened to be a three-run dinger by Morneau. These nuclear innings are becoming all-too-frequent with Lester this season. Are all the innings he pitched last year catching up with him? Is he fatiguing by the fifth inning and, consequently, losing command? He had a great start last time out against Toronto, but I don't remember any time this season where he has put two good starts in a row. That's troublesome for a #2 starter.
The loss can't be pinned solely on Lester, however. The offense came up short and squandered too many scoring opportunities, putting up a paltry two runs and letting Twins starter Nick Blackburn off the hook inning after inning. They managed to score a run in the 7th, but they have to score runs more consistently on the road. It was good to see Papi get the double in his first at-bat out of the six-hole, though.
Tomorrow, Dice-K makes his second post-DL start. Let's hope the defense backs him up better this time around (no more botched double plays!).
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
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