I think lester has been stressing over the birth of his child the last two starts. The baby was born on the 7th, the day after he got rocked by detroit. He also was fatigued from not sleeping well of late and it showed against cleveland. He said nothing is wrong mechanically, physically so I am going to assume he is going to be back to vintage lester after the weight was lifted off his shoulders with the child. He's had 4 days to fully focus on this game so there are no excuses this time if he gets shelled. Phil Hughes, in my opinion, is one of the most over-rated pitchers in all of baseball. He struggled against the Jays in his last start, but Toronto didn't make him pay like they did in the previous 2 games of that series. I like the Boston lineup, especially with jokesbury in the 9 hole. If they stay patient against Hughes, who will give up walks if prompted to, then I think Sox can get a split.
A lot of ifs in this game, but there is certainly value on lester.
A lot of ifs in this game, but there is certainly value on lester.
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td class="matchupCellsWhite Text">Win,Under</td> <td class="matchupCellsWhite Text">W</td> <td class="matchupCellsWhite">5.3</td> <td class="matchupCellsWhite">1</td> <td class="matchupCellsWhite">1</td> <td class="matchupCellsWhite">4</td> <td class="matchupCellsWhite">0</td> <td class="matchupCellsWhite">2</td> <td class="matchupCellsWhite">5</td></tr></tbody></table>
Just asking, why is that he Struggled vs. the Blue Jays ??
He was battling a head cold apparently, but besides that, he got into a lot of 3-1, 3-2 counts with the jays. But, Toronto is so damn aggressive that they refused to take a walk. I'm not really a fan of trends, but I also like to fade pitchers after they pitched a good game sick. Like Marcum last week, they tend to suck in their next start because their routine is disrupted or there is a hangover.
Sox are far from a lock, but i feel a lot more confident on lester than hughes in this game.
Sox are far from a lock, but i feel a lot more confident on lester than hughes in this game.
hno:Thanks for all the insight and thoughts on this match-up. all valid points- i just pulled the trigger on the yanks after looking again at the home advantage and still think yankee bats will be hot today-----good luck to all!!! seems like the pitching match-ups almost even out ay Yankee stdium!!
