The Red Sox are back above .500 after a dominant outing from Jon Lester lifted them to a 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Spotted a 1-0 lead on Dustin Pedroia's homer in the top of the first, Jon Lester wasted no time getting to work, starting off what would be a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout of Jimmy Rollins. The Sox would once again score in the top of the second, and Jon Lester would once again pitch a clean inning, this time with two strikeouts.
Lester faced his only real trouble in the third, allowing a single and double while hitting Jimmy Rollins in a sequence that would have allowed a run to come in were it not for an excellent throw and relay from left by Cody Ross and Jose Iglesias that caught Lou Montanez at home. From there, he would retire the last 13 batters he faced, racking up a total of seven scoreless innings, ten strikeouts, and just three baserunners allowed.
The Boston lineup, meanwhile, got back to hitting Joe Blanton in the fifth, with David Ortiz singling home Lars Anderson and then coming around to score himself on Cody Ross' big shot to left field that put the Sox up 5-0. With Matt Albers and Ross Ohlendorf holding down the fort for the final two innings, and Mauro Gomez adding a sixth run with his homer, the Sox left Dunedin 6-0 winners.