G7: Athletics 8, Red Sox 2

Red Sox   - 010 001 000 - 2  6  0
Athletics - 050 010 11x - 8 12  0

Lester had a nine-batter, 35-pitch nightmare second inning -- HR, single, HBP, K, K, single, double, single, K -- and his teammates' bats slept walked through the rest of the game.

Kevin Youkilis homered in the second, giving Boston a short-lived lead. He also doubled in the fourth. The Red Sox's other run came on a one-out walk to Rocco Baldelli and singles from Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz.

***

Jon Lester (9.00, 54 ERA+) / Dallas Braden (4.50, 96 ERA+)


We need bats.

Good
                  AVG   OBP   SLG  OPS+

Kevin Youkilis   .522  .577  .739   237
Jason Bay        .294  .500  .824   234
Jason Varitek    .278  .316  .722   157
  
Bad
                  AVG   OBP   SLG  OPS+

Dustin Pedroia   .167  .259  .375    61
Mike Lowell      .174  .208  .391    50
David Ortiz      .200  .346  .200    46
J.D. Drew        .125  .176  .375    37
Jacoby Ellsbury  .208  .269  .208    26
Jed Lowrie       .056  .150  .056   -44

After six games, the Red Sox are hitting .242/.329/.424, 93 OPS+.

Braden pitched on Opening Day against the Angels and allowed three runs and nine hits over six innings. Ian Browne calls him "a soft-tossing lefty who relies heavily on command".

BP 2009 on Braden:

An obscure 24th-round pick in 2004 ... his fastball sits at a pedestrian 89-91 mph, but he's always doing something with it -- he'll cut it, sink it, add and subtract from it, and use it to try to set up his average slider and effective changeup.

Lester lasted only five innings against Tampa Bay in his previous start, giving up eight hits and five runs.