Lester's well-documented April woes continued in his first start of the season on Friday in Texas. He gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings of a 9-5 loss to the Rangers, a disappointing first act for the much-heralded and much-deserved Opening Day starter.
"Things really didn't go the way I wanted, obviously," Lester said. "Long way to go. Just go get them next time."
The hope on the part of the Red Sox is that the next time, which will be Thursday afternoon in Cleveland, does not fall in line with Lester's early-season routine.
While not the absolute worst line he has ever produced in the month of April, Friday's effort offered up some extreme rarities for the southpaw.
Lester served up three home runs for the first time in his 124 career starts, hit two men in the same inning for the first time ever and failed to strike out a batter for just the second time in his career. He previously failed to record a K in a start in 2008 against Detroit, when he also went 5 1/3 innings.
Naturally, it also came in April.
With Friday's outing, Lester is now 3-6 with a 4.95 ERA in starts made before May. What made it especially disappointing, aside from the fact that it came in his first career Opening Day start and for a team heaped with a massive expectations, is that Lester was twice staked to a two-run lead.
An error and two hits gave the Red Sox two runs in the top of the first. Lester's second pitch of the bottom half was a fastball right down the heart of the plate that Ian Kinsler lined into the seats in left.
Nelson Cruz belted a solo shot to the same spot in the second and, after Boston got two more runs to take a 4-2 lead in the third, Lester gave three back on a gopher ball to Mike Napoli in the fourth.
Lester felt that the last two homers came on pretty good pitches, offering a tip of the cap for what he said was "a good piece of hitting" by Napoli. The lefty's manager, unconcerned over his ace's rough start, also offered up praise to the other side.
"The one to Napoli was kind of the game-changer," Terry Francona said. "Threw a breaking ball that was probably borderline out of the zone. But Napoli's a big strong kid. He had seen enough pitches. He went down and got it and that kind of changed the game."
Lester saw his walks increase last season from 2.8 per nine innings to 3.6. It bothered him all offseason and he has made a renewed commitment to reducing the free passes, saying all along he would prefer to see opposing hitters earn their way on rather than be given a base. He echoed that thought Friday, saying he would "rather give up a solo home run than a walk."
As odd as it sounds, it's clear what Lester is trying to say. However, if that mindset sees him throw a few too many over the plate in an effort to avoid the walk at all costs, there is a good chance that a guy that gave up just 14 home runs in 208 innings last year could become more hittable.
Then again, Lester may just need to get through the month of April, which, for whatever reason, never seems to agree with him.
