Hochevar v. Lester (Game 47)

(I like the symmetry with Jacoby in this picture.)

Lester pitched one hell of a game last night. He really had dominant stuff-he was all over the strike zone, changed speeds well, and his command (which had been improving by leaps and bounds over the past couple of games) was pretty much spot on. All of which resulted in him striking out nine on his way to the no-hitter. Last night, you could see what Francona and Farrell had seen in him from the start.

The moon and the stars have to line up perfectly for anyone to throw a no-hitter and the situation was no different for Lester. There have been two things that John Farrell has been publicly harping on Jon Lester about this season-getting ahead of batters and working at a less glacial pace. I suppose it's a testament to the genius of Farrell that when Lester managed to do both of those things simultaneously, he tosses a no-hitter. Of the twenty-nine batters he faced, twenty of them were greeted with first-pitch strikes. But, to me, one of the most impressive things about this game was that it ended in exactly two hours and thirty minutes. I could have caught the last half of the season finale of House after watching a complete Jon Lester start. Amazing.

Offensively, the Red Sox were also struggling to get hits. They had a big offensive push in the third inning. Both Drew and Varitek singled. Lugo then hit into a double play that brought in Drew. Ellsbury tripled. Pedroia walked and then stole second. Ortiz walked to load the bases and then Manny walked to knock in a run. Then Lowell reached on an error (props to Ortiz for still running when the ball looked all but caught) that knocked in two more runs. Youkilis then got a ground-ruled double that brought in Manny before Drew flied out to end the inning.

The only other man to be left on base was Ellsbury in the fourth inning. He walked. Then stole second and then stole third but didn't get any further. Varitek topped off an impressive performance by hitting a two-run homerun in the sixth inning (Drew stood on first after having been hit by a pitch.)

Also, Don Orsillo requests cash for his birthday (December 16). You can send it to him care of NESN (but don't ask for the address because he doesn't know it.)