So close, yet so far
If things go your way, if you get the calls, if the hitters miss your mistakes, then you are on a 6-0 record and a hero like Clay Buchholz. For Jon Lester that must seem so far away after yesterday at the Texas Rangers. The thing is, he did almost nothing wrong.
The key word here is 'almost'.
That and the fact that the opposing pitcher was none other than Yu Darvish, which gave him no wiggle room at all. He gave up the 3 runs, but struck out 14 over 7 innings. That is almost 5 innings worth of outs, so when the Red Sox went up 3-0 in the first 2 innings, Jon Lester had the best chance at a win he could have hoped for.
A solo homer in the 3rd inning was not such a big deal. Jon Lester just left a pitch up a bit, can happen. That was the first mistake he made. After that he was cruising through to the bottom of the 6th inning when a second mistake cost him the chance for a win. He was trying to pitch inside, but left it middle-up. Nelson Cruz, with Adrian Beltre on first, did not miss this mistake either. Bam... boom... game tied up.
Jon Lester finished the 6th inning, but you could just feel for the guy. He was cruising through the first 3 innings needing only 35 pitches, but the Rangers changed their approach and it took him 80 pitches over the final 3 innings. In there he left one middle-up, that was the difference. The difference between a win and watching it sail into the outfield seats.
It was his third start without a notch on the win belt and it was so close, yet so far... how frustrating is that?
Post a comment or hit me up on twitter @ericschabell with your thoughts.
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