Jon Lester Leads Red Sox Into Colorado to Kick Off Six-Game, West Coast Road Trip

For the first time since Jonathan Papelbon and Jason Varitek met in an embrace worthy of a world championship, the Red Sox return to Coors Field to take on the Colorado Rockies.

It was Papelbon on the mound and Varitek behind the plate when the Sox closed out their World Series win over the Rockies in 2007, finishing a dominant sweep for the team's second title in four years.

Boston enters the three-game set playing just about as well as it was back then. The club is coming off an 8-1 homestand, capped by Sunday's 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The victory gave the Sox a 10-2 mark in interleague play this year. Fittingly, they start the Colorado series with Jon Lester on the mound.

Lester was the winning pitcher in Game 4 of the '07 World Series, throwing 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He is 6-1 with a 2.98 ERA in interleague play.

WHEN AND WHERE

Red Sox (43-28) at Rockies (36-33)
Tuesday, June 22, 8:40 p.m.
Coors Field, Denver

HEAD TO HEAD

Colorado owns a 5-4 series advantage, including wins in two of three at home in 2004.

PITCHING MATCHUP

LHP Jon Lester (8-2, 3.13 ERA) vs. RHP Jhoulys Chacin (3-6, 4.00 ERA)

Lester continued his interleague dominance in his previous start by allowing two runs on four hits in seven innings of a 6-2 win over Arizona. The victory was the 50th of Lester's career and his eighth straight winning decision since a loss to Tampa Bay back on April 14. The 26-year-old Lester yielded just three hits and struck out three in his clinching win at Coors Field in the 2007 World Series.

Chacin, just 22, has lost four straight starts but continues to showcase occasionally dominating stuff.  He has struck out 54 men in 54 innings this season, with opponents hitting just .229 with three home runs off him.

Chacin is 1-3 with a 6.17 ERA at home.

LINEUPS

STAT SHEET

Red Sox

• Second baseman Dustin Pedroia is batting 20-for-40 (.500) with 12 runs scored during a 10-game hitting streak.
• Outfielder Daniel Nava has reached base safely in each of his first eight games with the club, the longest streak by a Boston player to begin his career since Jed Lowrie had an eight-gamer in April 2008.
• Since 2003, the Sox own a 92-46 record in interleague play, tops in the majors.

Rockies

• Default closer Manuel Corpas has given up eight runs in 2/3 inning over his last two outings. He had gone six straight appearances spanning 5 1/3 innings without allowing a run before the back-to-back rough games.
• Right fielder Brad Hawpe went deep Sunday, ending a run of 79 at-bats without a home run.
• First baseman Todd Helton is 2-for-18 with eight strikeouts in his last four games.

BLACK AND BLUE

Red Sox

• Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a 49-pitch simulated game Saturday and will be activated Thursday to start in Colorado. He is on the 15-day disabled list with a right forearm strain.
• Outfielder Jeremy Hermida was placed on the DL on June 11 after an MRI revealed five fractured ribs, the result of a collision with third baseman Adrian Beltre one week earlier.
• An MRI conducted June 9 revealed a new fracture in outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury's ribs. Ellsbury, who was placed on the DL on May 28 for the second time this year, went to the Athletes' Performance center in Arizona last week for at least two weeks of rest and recovery.
• Josh Beckett remains on a throwing program as he works his way back from a lower back strain.
• Infielder Jed Lowrie remains on the DL after coming down with mononucleosis during spring training.
• Righty Junichi Tazawa underwent Tommy John surgery in March. He is out for the year.

Rockies

• Projected closer Huston Street, who has not pitched this year, is expected to return Tuesday from right shoulder inflammation.
• Center fielder Carlos Gonzalez is also expected to return from a bruised left knee.
• Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was placed on the DL on June 18 with a sore left wrist. He is expected to be out until late July.
• Lefty Jorge De La Rosa is scheduled to make a rehab start for Triple-A Colorado Springs on Wednesday. He hopes to return in early July from a left middle finger injury.
• Right-hander Taylor Buchholz is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment this week. He had Tommy John surgery a year ago.

OUTLOOK

When asked what the reason was that his team had had so much success against National League teams over the years, Sox manager Terry Francona said he had no clue.

It's unlikely he even cares what league the opponent is from, provided the wins keep coming.

"I think we've proven that if we play well, we're OK, and we don't we get beat, regardless of what league it is," Francona said Sunday.

Sounds simple enough. The club will put that logic to the test against the Rockies at the scene of their last great triumph.