Lester Tagged With First Ever Loss To O's In Comeback (68-84)

Lester was strong early on

This disappointing season has just kept on going, even though the Red Sox showed some promise as a spoiler a few days ago, they're back to losing three straight. This pitching matchup looked like a good one coming into the game with Jon Lester (9-12, 4.95) facing off against impressive O's rookie Miguel Gonzalez (6-4, 3.57). The strong pitching matchup played right into things for the first few innings. Neither team scored for a little while, until the Red Sox got a little rally in the third. It started off when Daniel Nava hit a liner down the first base line that probably would've gone for a triple if a fan had not interfered. Anyhow, he was standing on second when Pedro Ciriaco drove him with a double off the monster. However, the O's came right back-- putting two runners in scoring position with no outs in the fourth. Matt Wieters delivered for the Birds with a two-run single to make it 2-1.

However, he unraveled late

The strong pitching matchup continued for another inning, but the Red Sox got right back into the thick of things in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs in the inning and nobody on, the Red Sox got back to back singles for Pedro Ciriaco and Scott Podsednik to put runners at the corners. Dustin Pedroia was the man as usual here as he singled on a grounder past the third baseman to score Ciriaco and tie things up at 2-2. However, once again, the Orioles climbed back ahead as soon as the Red Sox scored. An Adam Jones walk with one out in the sixth set up an RBI double down the first baseline for Matt Wieters. Wieters got to third on a wild pitch and eventually scored on a liner up the middle for Mark Reynolds. Lester actually wound up going seven decent innings but wound up with his first ever loss to Baltimore, as he's now 14-1.

Bright Spots:
Scott Atchison- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K
Mark Melancon- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K
Pedro Ciriaco- 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Scott Podsednik- 2-4
Dustin Pedroia- 1-4, 1 RBI
Daniel Nava- 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B
Jose Iglesias- 1-3

Dull Spots:
Cody Ross- 0-4, 1 K, 3 LOB
Ryan Lavarnway- 0-4
James Loney- 0-4, 1 K, 1 LOB

Player of the Game:
Pedro Ciriaco- Ciriaco did a typically good job on top of the lineup last night, batting 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI double-- he is now .297/2/19.