Jon Lester And Red Sox Win Heated Pitchers’ Skirmish

By John in Featured, Red Sox, Top Story ⋅ June 27, 2010 at 7:53pm ⋅ Post a comment

A trainer tends to Victor Martinez after he broke his thumb and re-aggravated his toe. (NESN and mlb.com)

It was to be the biggest highlight for the Red Sox in quite some time: Jon Lester vs Tim Lincecum. It wasn’t meant to be. Fortunately, it wound up in Boston’s favor. The Franchise was chased from the game by Boston’s lineup after just three innings, leading to a 5-1 Boston victory. It didn’t take long for Boston to take the lead, as David “Big Papi” Ortiz homered into the bay just past right field off a misplaced changeup from Tim “The Freak” Lincecum. But the Giants didn’t want to wait around. Andres Torres singled to lead off the bottom of the 1st, and promptly stole 2nd and 3rd. That enabled him to score on a groundout.

Then, Timmy Lincecum ran into a whole heap of trouble. The very next inning, with runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out, Darnell McDonald was intentionally walked to get to Jon Lester. The result was a sacrifice fly, followed by an RBI single from Marco Scutaro. But the real story came in the bottom of the frame, when Victor Martinez took a foul tip off his left thumb and his left foot (the same injured toe from earlier in the season) all in the same play. He stayed in the game, but came out right before the bottom of the 4th, having flown out in the 3rd.

After the Red Sox added another run in the 3rd, the Giants had their best chance to score another run with runners at the corners in the 4th with one out, but a strikeout and popout squashed that threat. There really was not anything else to speak of, though J.D. Drew tripled to lead off the 6th and was stranded, and Adrian Beltre homered in the 9th after being defensively substituted in the 7th. That eliminated the potential save situation, guaranteeing that Lester would come out for the complete game, giving the bullpen some GREATLY needed rest.

Sox Stud of the Game: Jon Lester

You know why.

Sox Dud of the Game: Victor Martinez

As it turns out, Martinez fractured his catching thumb, which means he will certainly be heading to the DL. The problem is, if he knew his toe and thumb were both hurting severely, he should have gone out of the game instead of insisting on playing, which risked further damage and completely screwed up the team’s mojo. Not to mention, he allowed two more stolen bases, to the most non-stealing team in baseball at that.

That’s What He Said:

“I don’t quite understand the police escort we had today because he didn’t do anything.” – Jerry Remy on getting to the ballpark on Gay Pride Weekend in San Francisco.

Game Notes:

W: Jon Lester (9-3)
L: Tim Lincecum (8-3)

Since the Giants moved to San Francisco, this was Boston’s third series against them, and second in San Fran.
Before homering, David Ortiz was 1/10 on the road trip.
Ortiz’ jack was Lincecum’s sixth allowed on the season.
The Giants entered Sunday tied for last in the majors (with Toronto) with 26 steals. With 28, they’re now 28th in the majors ahead of Boston and Toronto.
Bill Hall had been hitless on the road trip before going 2/4.
Lincecum threw 79 pitches through just three innings, and left without picking up a bat himself.
Jon Lester recorded his sixth career complete game, and second on the season.
Boston is now 1.5 games behind the Yankees (New York plays against the Dodgers on the West Coast at 8:00pm EST) and 1.0 games ahead of Tampa (who lost at home to Arizona 2-1). Boston will host Tampa for two games starting Tuesday.
Left-handed hitters today saw about a foot added onto the outside edge of the strike zone.
B.J. Upton got chewed out by Evan Longoria for a lack of hustle in Tampa’s loss. They had to be separated. Hopefully, this destruction of chemistry will continue into Tuesday and Wednesday.