Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Day 157: Jon Lester Shows Up Max Scherzer in Classic Duel.

If you had asked me to predict the outcome of this three-game series between the Red Sox and Tigers, I would definitely have anticipated a loss in the game two Lester v. Scherzer matchup. Max Scherzer has been nothing short of brilliant this season, coming into Tuesday night's game with a Major League leading 19-1 record — a shoo-in for the AL Cy Young. Lester has been good, better lately, but clearly in over his head in this matchup.

Well, it's a good thing I'm not making predictions for a living. I'd be living in a box under a bridge because I suck. It's also a good thing that I didn't have any money riding on this one. We actually got just the opposite — a classic pitchers' duel between the top two teams in the American League. A preview, perhaps, of the ALCS?

Jon Lester's last 10 games have been an improvement over the first half of the season. He has given up more than three earned runs just once and his ERA since July 13 is a pretty skimpy 2.59. Scherzer, on the other hand, has been nearly unbeatable with a season ERA of 2.88. And when the Tigers struck first, scoring a run in the second, I thought that was all it would take.

In the bottom of the fifth, all that changed. After Mike Carp led off the inning with a strike out, Jonny Gomes followed with one of his two hits of the night. (He was the only Red Sox batter to have multiple hits.) Next Stephen Drew bashed a ground-rule double into right-center forcing Gomes to stop at third. David Ross struck out, but then Will Middlebrooks slapped a single up the middle to score two and take the lead.

And then the nail biting starts... with four frames left for the Tigers to attempt a comeback, I nearly chewed off the entire tips of my fingers. But both Lester and the bullpen thwarted any and all efforts by the Tigers' bats, and then it was time for closer Koji Uehara's. I'm loving this guy. I love his fire and enthusiasm, and of course, his strikeouts. He put down the Tigers 1-2-3, striking out the last two guys, for his 17th save of the season.

I love a game when balls are just flying out of the park and the bases are always busy, but a pitchers' duel like this one is just as fun!

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