Lester no-hits Royals
Youngster fires second Sox’ no-hitter in as many years
MLB. In a season where many great expectations have been heaped on 24-year-old Jon Lester, the young southpaw delivered on all of them and then some last night.
On his 130th pitch of the evening — a 94-mph heater for a swinging strike three against the immortal Alberto Callaspo, no less — Lester delivered the 18th no-hitter in Red Sox history, and put an authoritative stamp on his Major League credentials in carrying the Sox to a 7-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
It was the second no-hitter in less than a year for the Sox, as fellow homegrown pitcher Clay Buchholz memorably turned the trick against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 1 of last season.
“What a story,” said Sox manager Terry Francona, who had just returned yesterday morning from watching his son Nick graduate from the University of Pennsylvania on Sunday night. “This probably isn’t fair to say, but I feel like my son graduated [Sunday night] and my son threw a no-hitter [last night].
“It couldn’t happen to a better kid.”
The no-hitter was yet another notch in a hardball career that has already seen Lester heroically defeat cancer, and then stand gloriously victorious on Coors Field after earning the decisive Game Four win in last season’s World Series Championship.
Immediately following last night’s hallmark game, Sox catcher Jason Varitek — who also caught his Major League-record fourth career no-hitter in the victory — handed Lester the baseball, and Francona clutched his young pitcher in a long embrace overflowing with both emotion and pride.
“It was tough,” said Lester after the game, with a nod toward his inspirational battle against cancer. “It was a long road back. When I did get back, I wanted to be at a certain level and I wasn’t at that level. It took a while.
“It was tough mentally and physically to go out and pitch every five days,” he added. “I’m just glad that I’m here at this moment right now and in five days I’ll go out and pitch again.”
It may take some time for the pieces of hardball history to sink in with Lester, but he also became the first Sox lefty to toss a no-hitter since Mel Parnell turned the trick on July 14, 1956, and continued to cement his standing as the “Great Young Lefthanded Hope” in the Boston organization.
“The fastball command and how powerful he was…that was really something special to watch,” said Sox pitching coach John Farrell. “For us to witness and see what John has come through with his hard work, his determination, and — what people don’t see — the work that puts in those five days between starts, he stayed with a very outwardly controlled approach despite the adrenaline and nerves that must have been flying through him.”
The Pride of Washington State went to the mound armed with the best stuff of his career against the worst offensive lineup in the American League, and thoroughly dominated with a 93-95 mph fastball, an effective change up, a darting curveball and a cut fastball that consistently missed Royals bats all evening long.
Lester walked a pair of batters in securing the no-no, but also whiffed a career-high nine and was a shining example of why Sox officials were loathe to part with the lefty during the Johan Santana trade talks this winter.
The Sox offense did their part by breaking the game open with five runs in the third inning, and the focus then quickly shifted to the zeroes that Lester was piling up on the Monster scoreboard. The requisite sterling defensive play for the no-no was marked off when rookie Jacoby Ellsbury made a diving stab of a Jose Guillen line drive in the top of the fourth inning, and Lester followed the glovework by stepping right through the doorway into baseball history.
“We need this guy to step up and do great things for us this season, and he did that tonight,” said Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis. “When he has the confidence going that he’s throwing well, it’s a huge thing for the Boston Red Sox. He’s a great pitcher with a bright future, who is going to throw a lot of great games.
“Hopefully, he can do this again.”
With all Lester has already accomplished in his young adult life, there’s no doubting the left-hander in any facet of life.
