Lester Drops Out Worse Than Wall Street: Sox Lose 7-2

(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Despite the Red Sox bats not sparking last night, the poor performance of Jon Lester was not expected. After this 7-2 loss at the hand of the Rays, the Red Sox look to battle back this afternoon in a rare 1:35 p.m. weekday game.

Lester's performance was mediocre at best. He allowed five runs in five innings. The night started off well, however as he struck out five of the first seven batters he faced and looked on his game until the fourth inning. His ERA is now 9.00—given this wont be something that sticks, parts of Red Sox Nation hope, at least, that the possibility now exists Terry Francona is starting him too high in the rotation and his spot may be on the chopping block. With talent such as today's starter, Daisuke Matsuzaka on the mound it makes me wonder why Lester is not the number three man in the rotation.

The blame is not to be all put on Jon Lester though, the bats were filled with lead last night as the Red Sox barely scraped together two runs.

Jacoby Ellsbury went 1-for-5 in the lead-off slot for a season batting average of .111. Meanwhile Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell and Jed Lowrie all went hitless throughout the night, and the homecoming for Rhode Island native Rocco Baldelli fell short as he went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. In the fourth he made an amazing catch to rob Dioneer Navarro of a base hit.

Other debuts, including the much talked about appearnce of Takashi Saito, who gave up a home run to Evan Longoria in the eighth inning, and Ramon Ramirez, who also made his Fenway night a good one as he pitched a solid inning of relief including a strikeout.

Today's matchup is a solid one as Daisuke Matsuzaka will oppose Matt Garza. Both pitchers looked hot last season, but the question is how will they fare this season?

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