What a streak this has been. We’ve had blowouts, Big Papi walkoffs, and everything in between. One of the most interesting things about the past 10 games is the emergence of Jon Lester. Back on June 16th, the Sox had just been swept by the Twins and were going into Atlanta pitching a highly-touted rookie. They basically had a 3-man rotation (Schilling, Beckett and Wake), and didn’t know what to expect from the rook. Ten games later, the rookie is 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA. But what was really impressive last night was his ability to buckle down and get out of a bunch of jams. It’s obvious that the guy has control problems, but at least when he gets into trouble he doesn’t turn into Derek Lowe.

A special thanks goes out to the offense, not only for backing Lester up, but for giving the exausted bullpen a lead they couldn’t screw up. Tek starting it off with the bases loaded, a couple of doubles thanks to a blinded by the light performance by the corner OFs, Doubles going deep and even Mr. Mendoza line putting up a bomb for good measure. In the end, not even Tavarez could blow this one.

Here’s an interesting statistical comparison:

Player A: .273/.402/.724, 6HR, 30RBI
Player B: .267/.374/.669, 4HR, 22RBI

Player A was Edgar Renteria after June 27 last year. Player B is Alex Gonzalez this year. I know I give Mr. Mendoza Line a lot of crap, but you’ve got to hand it to him, his numbers are very close to Renteria’s at a quarter of the price. Oh, and the man has only ONE SINGLE ERROR this season, as opposed to Renteria’s 14 at this point last year. Keep up the good work A-Gon, I hope you force me to retire your nickname soon.

Tonight, the return of Pedro. Yesterday’s ovation was a nice start, but hopefully Fenway Park can go to 11.