"It felt good," Lester said of his outing. "I was able to throw strikes with a lot of different pitches tonight and command both sides of the plate, which helps. [Catcher Jason Varitek] did a great job of honing that and making sure that I didn't get ahead of myself and try to think two, three pitches ahead, and just focus on that one pitch."
The Rangers players seemed ready to just chalk it up to 'one of those nights.'
"That was just lights-out," Michael Young said of Lester's performance. "That was one of the best games I've seen in my career by a pitcher, topping at 98 [mph], pounding the strike zone. [He] used all his pitches, back-doored his cutter, threw his cutter in, curveball, changeup. You have to give him credit. He flat out threw a good game."
Conversely, Derek Holland, who started out strong (allowing only 1 run in 4 2/3 innings) imploded, surrendering three more runs in the 5th, admitting he lost his feel after having a balk called him.
"I kind of let it get to me," Holland said. "The balk just stayed in my head the whole time, and I lost my composure out there. You just let one thing build up, and it's kind of a snowball effect."
Kris Benson did no better, allowing four more runs to score in the 5th. One of the runs came off the bat of the struggling David Ortiz, a solo homerun that just barely wrapped around Pesky's Pole in right field.
But for all the offense Boston put on the board, the night belonged to John Lester.
"I know his record doesn't show how good he can pitch, but I think the Red Sox fans know how good he can pitch," Ron Washington said. "Tonight was one of the nights he did it."
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