San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Jon Lester tossed a complete game five- hitter and drove in the winning run to push Boston past San Francisco, 5-1, to wrap up a three-game interleague set.
Red Sox Beat Giants, Lose Martinez To Broken Thumb
Lester (9-3) bested two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, as he walked only one, fanned nine and set down 17 of the last 18 batters he faced to lead the Red Sox to a split of their six-game road trip.
"He threw strikes all day, he used all his pitches," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona of Lester. "I don't think he had an inning over 17 pitches. He was efficient all day and gave us exactly what we needed."
Marco Scutaro and Bill Hall each had two hits and drove in a run for Boston, which finished interleague play with a 13-5 mark.
Lincecum (8-3) took the loss after lasting only three innings, the shortest outing of his career. He gave up four runs on five hits while walking three and fanning four.
“I had last game where I was up to like, 94 [miles per hour], maybe even hit 95, and then today, where my fastball got as low as 87,” Lincecum said. “So those kinds of things kind of fluster me. But I say I always go back to the chalkboard in between starts and try to figure it out.”
The teams traded runs in the first inning, as David Ortiz belted a solo home run to right field with two outs in the top half and Aubrey Huff's groundout scored Andres Torres in the home half.
Boston regained the lead for good in the next half inning when Lester delivered a sacrifice fly to plate Victor Martinez and Scutaro followed with an RBI single to chase home Hall.
The visitors then tallied for a third straight frame on Hall's two-out single that scored Kevin Youkilis.
San Francisco put runners at first and third with one out in the fourth, but Lester worked out of the jam by striking out Pablo Sandoval and getting Nate Schierholtz to pop up.
From that point forward, the southpaw retired the side in order in the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings and did not allow another runner past first base. The only batter to reach over the final five frames was Edgar Renteria after a two-out single in the sixth.
Adrian Beltre, who came on as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning, blasted a solo home run to left-center field off Sergio Romo in the ninth to complete the scoring.
Martinez took a foul ball of his left foot in the third inning and was replaced behind the plate in the fourth by Jason Varitek...The Red Sox improved to 6-1 in games this season against former Cy Young Award winners. Lester has won six of his last seven interleague starts and is 7-2 in his 13 turns versus the National League...Ortiz's long ball was his 275th with the Sox, moving him past Manny Ramirez into fifth place all-time on the team's list...Beltre has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games...Lincecum is 5-3 in 11 interleague starts...San Francisco fell to 5-3 in series-deciding games. The Giants were 7-8 in interleague play.
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