Left-Handed Complement
Jon Lester continued to make Juan Samuel’s new job difficult, pitching 6⅓ innings with a line of 4 hits, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. The southpaw was on his way to pitching a complete game shutout as Clay Buchholz had before him, but couldn’t quite match Buchholz’s start. This quality start further cemented the dominant double-fisted combination of Buchholz and Lester.
All three of Lester’s bases on balls came in the seventh inning against the bottom of Baltimore’s order. Lester was determined to work his way out of the seventh but was clearly gassed as he surrendered free passes to Adam Jones, Garrett Atkins, and Julio Lugo in succession after thoroughly baffling the Orioles for six innings.
Terry Francona pulled the lefty with the bases loaded and one out. Lester was as angry as Adrian Beltre getting his head touched in the dugout, not at his manager but at his inability to finish the seventh. Lester looked on anxiously as Daniel Bard attempted to preserve the visitors’ one-run lead. Bard induced a fly ball out to shallow center off Luke Scott’s bat and a pop out to Kevin Youkilis at third from Corey Patterson for the third out. The Red Sox starter was among the first to congratulate Bard on his gutty hold. The reliever also got a clap on the back from Youkilis, whose seventh-inning solo shot was the difference in the game.
Newly-summoned Josh Reddick tripled to lead off the eighth and was driven in by Marco Scutaro, tacking on an insurance run. It was the only other run Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie surrendered. While Lester has a relief corps that includes premiere talent such as Bard and Jonathan Papelbon and generally reliable arms like Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima and Ramon Ramirez, Guthrie has no such support. Charm City’s bullpen proceeded to relinquish six runs in the top of the ninth, including a pair of two-run doubles.
The Orioles only runs came in the bottom of the ninth in garbage innings by Joe Nelson. As Ramirez came in to finish off Nelson’s inning, Camden Yards made its full transformation to Fenway South. Only the Standells were missing from the standing ovation and applause that came with the Red Sox’s victory.
| Game 57: June 5, 2010 | ||
 Red Sox33-24 | 8 | W: Jon Lester (7-2) H: Daniel Bard (13) |
| 2B: Kevin Youkilis – 2 (15), Darnell McDonald (7), Bill Hall (3) 3B: Josh Reddick (1) HR: Kevin Youkilis (12) | ||
| Orioles 15-41 | 2 | L: Jeremy Guthrie (3-6) |
| 2B: Matt Wieters (6) | ||
