Yardwork: All Hail Jon Lester
Baseball May 20th. 2008, 9:00am
Red Sox 7, Royals 0: Lester struck out nine Royals for the first complete game shutout of his career, allowing NO hits in the process. Lordy; Lester beats cancer, pitches the winning game of the ‘07 World Series and throws a no hitter in his 37th career start. Quite the man.
Cubs 7, Astros 2: Geovanny Soto hit a three run inside-the-park-home run thanks to the second botched homer call by an umpire in as many nights. Ted Lilly and friends shut out Lance Berkman and Hunter Pence, ending their consecutive-game hitting streaks (17 and 16, respectively).
Cardinals 8, Padres 2: Prior to Monday, Albert Pujols was a career 3-for-20 hitter in San Diego. He equaled that total in five at-bats last night, two of which were complete bombs. The first one was a triple deck shot… just crushed. Teammate Ryan Ludwick had three hits and a walk, bumping his average to .350, with a .770 slugging percentage. More bad news for the Padres: Jake Peavy is headed to the DL.
Nationals 4, Phillies 0: If you happen to be wondering who will represent the Nationals at the All Star Game this summer, Tim Redding would like to throw his name into the hat. He moved to 6-3 and lowered his ERA to 3.16.
Twins 7, Rangers 6: Alexi Casilla had a homer and three RBI and Howie Clark delivered the game-winner in the 12th. Josh Hamilton homered in his first at bat, making him the first 50 RBI man of 2008.
46 Responses to “Yardwork: All Hail Jon Lester”
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May 20th, 2008 at 9:04 AM
i witnessed Dave Steib throw a no hitter against the Tribe on Sept 3rd 1990.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:04 AM
by chance, was this feat covered by bspn? not even briefly?
(full disclosure: i do not have first-hand knowledge of this as i was otherwise watching other networks.)
May 20th, 2008 at 9:04 AM
Ellsbury, sporting his Iverson arm sock again, made a pretty sick catch to help his cause.
Good for Lester.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:08 AM
@jimmy: Yeah ESPN went to it live in the 9th.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:08 AM
130 pitches…. You’ll have plenty of time to reflect on your accomplishment during your upcoming stint on the DL Jon. Congrats!
May 20th, 2008 at 9:09 AM
@jimmy: I believe that their was a brief message about this during one of the SC’s.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:12 AM
Hey, Boston? I think he might take the no-no.
I think Maddux, Roger, and more than a few others would trade 10-20 wins and a month or two on the DL for a no-no, now, at the end of their careers.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:15 AM
I see what you did there, Imig. I click on the Pujols link, expecting a video, BAM, you hit me with the Cardinals home page. You’re trying to increase their site traffic, aren’t you?
May 20th, 2008 at 9:18 AM
Varitek has now caught more no-hitters than any catcher in history. (Even more than Charles Johnson!)
May 20th, 2008 at 9:25 AM
St. Bear,
I was directing you to the video on the main page.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:28 AM
I figured that, I was just trying to be funny because everybody rips on you about the Cardinals. Obviously it didn’t work.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:30 AM
That Edmonds catch last night was amazing. I was slowly falling asleep when I glimpsed that catch and I was amazed for the rest of the game. I felt the same way when I saw that LoDuca slide into the dugout catch. I have no idea how Edmonds does that, but it is killer when it happens.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:31 AM
Paging Hef… I am changing my gravatar back to ultra sweetness now. Nice bet although I did call my loss. Is that considered charity?
May 20th, 2008 at 9:33 AM
Mags…what was the bet?
May 20th, 2008 at 9:35 AM
Gravatars are weird..Mags I never saw your Gravatar change but I know it did because Hef saw it…Technology baffles and confuses me
May 20th, 2008 at 9:36 AM
I had to change my gravatar to the shitty D-Bags logo and write “The Tigers are more over hyped than the Yankees” on every post I made yesterday.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:37 AM
@RWH
Yeah I see it changed now and I just changed it again. Let me know when you can see the new one. I think Hef must have a computer from the future or something.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:37 AM
And Spencer, did you go back to Jim Brown or are you still Titleist? I see Jim Brown
May 20th, 2008 at 9:37 AM
tim redding has been the savior on my fantasy team
May 20th, 2008 at 9:38 AM
Magss…I see the Michigan logo..I saw it all day yesterday as well
May 20th, 2008 at 9:39 AM
yea, i changed my avatar last friday, and didnt see the change until monday.
Mags…on another note, my intense hatred for the Celtics has left me with nowhere to turn. ill be actively rooting for the pistons. please knock off douchebag PP and that pussy KG.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:39 AM
RWH – are you able to watch Game 1 of the doubleheader today? I’m going to have to take a long lunch.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:40 AM
Roman…i should be Titleist right now.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:40 AM
At my work computer Spencer is Jim Brown and at home he’s Titleist. Is it because I wear clothes at work, but surf nude at home? Any techsperts out there know?
May 20th, 2008 at 9:40 AM
Jim #@*^%$ Edmonds. I finally get to see the Astros on a national broadcast and the middle of the line-up shits the bed.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:42 AM
I’m seeing Titleist for spence…
May 20th, 2008 at 9:43 AM
Spence…you are still Jimmy Brown to me (which is cool)…ATL…I want so badly to take the afternoon off..especially with Maine/Glavine but it is not happening…I have a radio in my office and I will probably take a late lunch and go to a Ruby Tuesday..they have a TV
May 20th, 2008 at 9:43 AM
dem’s some good golf balls. ProV1x’s baby.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Big gulps, huh?
All right!
Welp see you later.
Are the Padres giving up or what? Wasting that pitching staff.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:46 AM
ATL..I know this works for you as well…this series is huge for both teams…For the Mets, they need to get some momentum, they need to win at Turner Field, its time they haven’t put shit together…for ATL, they are still battling Pitching injuries and Smoltz didn’t sound very optimistic..but they need to do something as well…the Mets Braves and Phillies have been tripping over each other and no one is pulling away..Florida has stumbled…it’s just so frustrating
May 20th, 2008 at 9:46 AM
@spence
Wow, that is hatred. I can’t believe people hate them more than us. It is a strange feeling.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:48 AM
Not that this is Ballin but I hate every team left…I feel empty…I wanted the Hornets to pull that off so bad
May 20th, 2008 at 9:49 AM
I don’t hate the Celtics. I hate Garnett and Doc Rivers and the city itself.
I’m kinda rooting for Spurs-Celtics, so Duncan can end this charade once and for all.
I still think Boston can win the series, just that KG will look like a huge bitch in the process.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:52 AM
Mags…tell me about it. ive always loved sheed tho, and he’s gonna tear KG a new one the whole series.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:52 AM
That’s how I’ve come to view this whole postseason.
/coming from a lifelong Celtics fan
May 20th, 2008 at 9:57 AM
@RWH – couldn’t agree more. Seems like all 3 teams are running in place. I can’t believe we’re where we are with all of the injuries we’ve had (three starting pitchers have spent time on the DL, our setup guy and closer are on the DL for the unforeseeable future, etc.), and I can’t believe the Mets are still in the hunt with all of the slumps their hitters have had. But it’s time to quit the excuses and start putting a run together. Should be a great series
May 20th, 2008 at 10:03 AM
I hate the Red Sox, but even I can be happy for John Lester. Pretty amazing story!
May 20th, 2008 at 10:21 AM
question for you guys:
Now that ‘Teck has caught more no-no’s than any other catcher and he’s considered the backbone of a pitching staff that’s been above average to superb for most of his tenure, do you think that would be considered when thinking about his HOF potential? Can you count that stuff for a catcher?
He did have some decent hitting years too, but from a catcher/pitcher standpoint, whats the criteria?
May 20th, 2008 at 10:42 AM
Pedro and Schilling also shook off Tek’s signal in ninth inning of their no-hit bids, only to give up hits.
KG gonna steam-roll Sheed!! I actually love both guys, and both of them should stop freaking shooting from the outside all the god-damn time!!
May 20th, 2008 at 10:44 AM
The first question by the talking head reporter after Lester’s no-hitter was “Where does this moment rank in your life?” He should have said “Um, I don’t know… somewhere below, you know, surviving cancer I guess.”
May 20th, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Tek is borderline, at best, for HOF considerations. If he does play a few more years, notches another World Series win and plays above average offense, catching 4 no-no’s will help him get there. but if he retired after this season, he’s not getting in.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Somewhere, Clan Steinbrenner is fuming.
I feel the need, the need for Sheed. Pistons in six.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Varitek has no chance, imo.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:39 AM
I don’t think he’s in at the moment, just to clarify, but it warrants discussion: catcher is a unique position, you’re the one who’s actually calling the pitches, so should how you call a game go into the HOF debate? I say yeah.
In the case of Veriteck, I think that if he plays 3 more years at a decent offensive clip (around .300, 20hr, 90-100 rbi’s) and his pitching staff remains insanely productive, I think he merits at least the discussion of the Hall.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:42 AM
…but those are lofty numbers and I doubt he’ll achieve ‘em at 36
May 20th, 2008 at 12:42 PM
Albert’s first home run last night brought back memories of the one he hit in Houston, sending Brad Lidge’s career into the crapper.
Oh, and Imig… if anyone had told me that Ryan Ludwick would be leading the team in hrs at this point in the season, I would’ve told them to put away the Kool-Aid.