Sunday, July 14, 2013

Lester Good Enough To Lose; Red Sox Do, 3-0

(Thearon Henderson/Getty Images)
This time, Jon Lester was respectable. Six and one-third innings, three earned runs. The problem is we have bigger expectations of Lester—he's supposed to be our 1A or 1B ace. He's not even close. And, to his credit, he knows it. Said Lester after the 3-0 loss to the A's, "A loss is a loss, It doesn't matter how well you've pitched when you lose." Indeed. Boston's offense was curiously stymied by one A.J. Griffin. They got seven hits (just one fewer than Oakland), but went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. The loss meant that Boston could not get 60 wins before the All-Star Break. Nevertheless, if they win today (#59), they will have finished the first half with just 10 fewer wins then they got in all of 2012.