Jon-Jon: We're Sorry We Doubted You

What else can WMYM say after a dominating performance like young Jon Lester put out there this afternoon? A week after WMYM questioned Lester's bona fides and all the comparisons to Andy Pettitte, the lefthander went out and looked BETTER than Andy Pettitte. His line for the afternoon against the A's - 6 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks and, most importantly, no runs - tells a good story in itself, but it doesn't give true credit to the control he had on his pitches. Lester was pounding the ball down in the zone, keeping it away from Oakland's power hitters (well, that's pretty much just Jack Cust) and running it in on little men like Mark Ellis. Add to that his general mound presence, and it's clear that Wednesday's win, his first of the year, could be a break through for the cancer survivor.


Then again, it also could have been all for naught, if not for the triumphant return of David Ortiz's big bat. Big Papi's no-doubter in the seventh broke the tie and gave Boston a 2-0 lead it never relinquished, thanks to impressive mop up duty from Bryan Corey (yes, the man who still may be the one to go when Josh Beckett is activated on Sunday) and Manny Delcarmen, who earned a save in lieu of a Jonathan Papelbon appearance hours after he shut down the A's Tuesday night.

Some quick notes that can't be overlooked before we get into the grades:

1) Manny earned his first MBM (Manny Being Manny) moment of the year in the seventh, when it appeared he had knocked out the team's first back-to-back homers from the 3-4 slot only to watch Oakland centerfielder Chris Dinorfia track it down just above the lip of the center field plastic wall. Not only did he sit at home and watch the ball soar, he then paused half way to first base in his trot and remained completely incredulous that Dinorfia had actually caught the fly. With the Nor-Cal wind blowing out Tuesday night the hit would have been a bomb and a half, but a placid Wednesday made it a long out. Regardless, it was a Tivo-able moment.
2) Jason Varitek's second-straight terrific offensive games should go a long ways toward temporarily quieting the "Whither Varitek" headlines, perhaps in favor of "Captain Contract Year".
3) Comcast Sports Net Bay Area must have some of the world's most powerful camera mics. After Mike Lowell flied out in the seventh, you could easily hear Dr. Double yell "Godda$% it!" en route to first base. When a newspaper photographer nearly got drilled with a foul ball, they cut to a nearby camera and caught half of his conversation with his media neighbor in the adjoining dugout. It was almost surreal.

Ahhh, and now the part everyone waits for: Instant adjudication from ✓s and -es.

STARTING PITCHING: ✓+
If the Sox can get 6+ innings of shutout, three-hit ball from Jon Lester they'll take it every time out. The kid looked absolutely comfortable on the mound, which with Lester seems to be a pretty good indicator of performance (with some pitchers it can almost be misleading). His velocity was strong, but his control was even more impressive. Needless to say, it's an auspicious second-beginning for a man who now holds high expectations.

MIDDLE RELIEF: ✓
We'll put Corey in this category, even though he also could qualify in setup relief for his eighth inning. The 34-year old former Ranger did allow one baserunner, but he did a good job of blocking out the Dustin Pedroia error and getting the job done at the plate. The strong outing certainly adds more intrigue to the "race to not get dropped" between himself, David Aardsma and Javier Lopez.

SETUP RELIEF: N/A

CLOSER: ✓+
Three up, three down for Manny Delcarmen, including two outs against the closing thing Oakland has to a pair of power hitters: Jack Cust and Mike Sweeney. Just like the commentary from Lester's start, any time the Sox can get a save without having to use Jonathan Papelbon, they'll take it without asking questions.

LINEUP: ✓
A case could be made for the offensive to receive a higher grade - they did score five runs - but the fact that they were shut down by power-pitching former ace Rich Harden was a bit of a wet blanket. Still, Ortiz's resurrection and Varitek's second-straight strong game deserve big kudos. As does the string of five-straight singles they rapped out in the eighth inning, including one by Alex Cora when he worked the count after falling behind 0-2, then went with a full count pitch in to right field. Possibly one of the better at-bats of the season so far, even though it only scored one run.

And now, on to Canadia. They like bacon there, right? And beavers? Or is that Mexico? WMYM is confused. Or maybe that's both Canada and Mexico now. Ahhh, the wonders of NAFTA.

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