G41: Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 1

Blue Jays - 000 000 100 - 1 11  1
Red Sox   - 301 010 00x - 5  7  0

SWEEP! ... 0.5 GB.

Jason Bay hit a two-run home run off the top of the right-center field wall to cap a three-run first. Dustin Pedroia doubled and scored on Kevin Youkilis's single in the third, then drove in Jacoby Ellsbury with a single in the fifth. LBJ doubled in the first to extend his hitting streak to 16 games.

Lester was strong (6.1-8-1-2-4, 109), allowing a fair amount of hits, as Brad Penny did last night, but staying out of any serious trouble. Toronto had at least one baserunner in eight of the nine innings. Lester took great advantage of a generous outside strike zone (to right-handed hitters) from home plate umpire Marvin Hudson. Toronto hitters were in a perpetual state of annoyance all evening.

David Ortiz got an RBI on a ground out in the first, singled in the fifth and lined out to second in the eighth (Aaron Hill was perfectly placed in short right field).

***

Robert Ray (3.60, 127 ERA+) / Jon Lester (6.51, 76 ERA+)

Lester has had a bad case of gopheritis this season, allowing 10 home runs compared to 14 all of last season. He has allowed two dongs in three of his last four starts. Overall, in his last 10 innings, Lester has allowed 18 hits and 13 runs.

MLB.com:

Ray recorded his first Major League victory last Saturday, when the Jays defeated the White Sox, 2-1, at Rogers Centre. He went a career-high eight innings, allowing three hits -- the fewest he has yielded in three big league starts -- and issuing one walk. The lone run he surrendered was unearned, as Chicago's Scott Podsednik stole third base and scored on a throwing error by Jays catcher Raul Chavez. Ray struck out three and did not allow an extra-base hit.

In my post earlier today, I included a (presumably tongue-in-cheek) quote from David Ortiz saying that he was slumping so bad, he was considering batting right-handed.

This Date In Baseball History:

1930 - Babe Ruth hits three consecutive home runs in the first game of a doubleheader against the A's, then batting against Jack Quinn in the 9th, Ruth decides to hit right handed. After two strikes, he switches to lefty but strikes out. ...

There are a few other recorded instances of Ruth batting right-handed in a game. ... From May 21, 1957:

Boston baseball writers reaffirm their decision to bar women from the press box and refuse to allow Doris O'Donnell, a Cleveland feature writer traveling with the Indians, to sit in the Fenway Park press area.

Finally, I have a hard time believing this one:

1880 - In Albany's Riverside Park, Lip Pike hits a ball over the wall and into the river. RF Lon Knight begins to go after the ball in a boat but gives up. Few parks have ground rules about giving the batter an automatic home run on a hit over the fence.

Wouldn't Pike have already circled the bases by the time Knight found a boat, got in and pushed off from shore?

More Pre-Game Reading Material: Joe Posnanski vs Steve Phillips, fjm-style: Not a fair fight!

SP: "While he [Beltran] has that great talent, there are times when he doesn't play the game and make plays."

JP: "Yep, those players who don't play the game or make plays, those are the worst kinds of players in the world. You want a player who plays the game, makes plays, a player who makes game plays, the plays gamers play to make, a player who makes plays for plays that playmakers make."