First of all, despite what he said in his post-game interview, Jon Lester was not good last night. After going 0-2 on the first hitter, he proceeded to walk three, give up one hit and allow three runs in the first inning. Despite two home runs by the sizzling hot Adrian Gonzalez (and another by the semi-hot David Ortiz), the Red Sox could not dig themselves out of the multiple holes dug for them by Lester. He coughed up two solo HRs after the first on meatball hanging curve balls. Five earned runs in five innings is not an acceptable start for the ace of the staff.Beyond all of this, the inability of Jason Varitek to throw out Rajai Davis in the 10th inning—once on a pitchout and once just falling asleep—compounded the angst in the 7-6 loss. A sac fly cemented the loss as Davis trotted home from third.
So, once again, this team cannot get to .500. Buckle up, Nation, this funk might not be an aberration after all.