Sox Shock Cleveland With Late Rally

Five innings into the game last night I figured this post would be about Jon Lester's troubling stats. In his past three starts Lester has walked three, then four, and last night a career-worst five batters. Apart from missing the strike zone, he appears to be easy to figure out after one time through the lineup--another disturbing trend.

But Lester has a few people to thank for escaping with a no decision in last night's come-from-behind victory:

• Crazy Julian Tavarez went all Papelbon on the Indians, ending the inning by striking out the two batters he faced after inheriting Lester's bases-loaded situation. CJT went another two innings, surrendering just two hits.

• Mike Timlin, he of the ERA larger than the national deficit, pitched a scoreless 8th inning.

• Joe Borowski, the Indians' awful closer, blew the save after giving up the tying runs (rally started by Julio Lugo), followed by a bloop single by David Ortiz (two hits on the night) and a huge go-ahead home run by Manny.

• Papelbon closed it out with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth.

Say thank you to your teammates, Jon. Now go work on commanding the strike zone.