frames, Jon Lester came through with a six-hitter against the
Minnesota Twins.
Lester nabbed his 46th career win in his 100th start to move to 4-2 on the season with a 3.46 ERA.
Only Tim Lincecum has a better winning percentage in his first 100 starts. Lincecum has won one less game, but has also lost one less game. He currently holds the record for best winning percentage in history by anyone with at least 100 starts.
This after starting the season 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA through three starts. In the five starts since, his ERA is 2.27.
"It’s great, but it’s just a testament to the teams I’ve been on,"
Lester told The Boston Globe. "We had a lot of great players here and it’s easy to pitch
when guys score runs. It takes pressure off having to make each pitch
perfect. Same thing goes for our defense. It’s a cool thing and
hopefully I can continue to do it. You don’t get paid to go out and get
no-decisions and losses."
The young left-hander is no stranger to poor starts before turning it around. His career ERA in April is 4.58. The only other month where his ERA is higher than 3.77 is August, where he has a 4.87 ERA. However, the high August ERA is due to five starts his rookie season — 1/5th his career starts in the month –when he posted a 7.66 ERA.
Lester was one of the best pitchers in the AL in 2009 and could have been in contention for the Cy Young if not for April. Hopefully, this year April won't hold him back in the Cy Young voting as he's well on his way to being considered the most dominant left-hander in the game.