On Opening Day, he drew a difficult matchup against Justin Verlander. After tossing seven innings of one-run ball, the lefty ultimately received the loss when Verlander outpitched him.
Since then, Lester wasn’t quite himself, yielding at least five runs in each of his last two starts. His outing against the Rangers on April 17 was forgettable after he allowed seven runs in just two innings of work.
But in Saturday’s 1-0 victory, he finally returned to his winning ways. By throwing seven shutout innings — with seven strikeouts — Lester looked like the ace of the Red Sox staff that he's been over the past few seasons.
"You just have to try and keep throwing strikes, keep throwing the ball in the zone," Lester told reporters after the game. "I'm trying to keep this team in ballgames, and that's all I have to worry about."
The victory over Chicago snapped his streak of eight straight starts in which he hadn't recorded a W. Lester locked up his first victory since Sept. 6, 2011, when he threw seven shutout frames against Toronto.
It was an impressive performance in a chilly Chicago night, considering Lester was engaged in a pitcher's duel against Jake Peavy.
"He was terrific," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine told reporters in Chicago after the game. "He got through the first inning, and he put it on cruise control."
Lester's start didn't look promising in the beginning. To begin the game, Lester issued a free pass to Adam Dunn and surrendered a double to Paul Konerko as he quickly eclipsed the 30-pitch plateau.
Despite the slow start, he bounced back and at one point retired 16 of the next 18 batters he faced. He also withstood the high pitch count, tossing 122 pitches to propel the Red Sox to the victory.
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