The southpaw pitched seven shutout innings on Sept. 19 to earn his 18th win of the season, leading the Red Sox to a 6-0 victory against the Blue Jays.
For the effort, Lester has earned this week’s Amica Pitcher of the Week honors.
Lester has won his past five starts and has topped his 2008 career high of 16 wins. With his most recent win, he lowered his ERA to 3.06, and with only 10 games left in the regular season, he is on track to having the lowest season ERA of his career as well, which currently stands at 3.21, also set in 2008.
In Sunday night’s win against Toronto, Lester held off the feared Jose Bautista, who was looking for his 50th home run of the season. Bautista has reached that mark since Sunday, but managed just two groundball outs against Lester – both of which coming with the bases loaded.
Lester is currently tied with Tampa Bay’s David Price for the second-most wins in the AL behind CC Sabathia.