Lester-rific

Jon Lester - 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K

I work only a few night shifts per year. Tonight happened to be one of them. I was aware neither the Royals nor the Red Sox had a hit by the middle of the third inning when a work task needed my full attention.

When I finished that task, my boss told me Lester still had the no-hitter through 8 innings; we watched him finish the job.

On the post-game radio show, one of the announcers cited a bunch of trivia - Jason Varitek has caught more no-hitters (four) than anyone else, the Red Sox are second with 18 no-hitters, etc. - and then said "You can throw out all the numbers because Jon Lester is probably the first cancer survivor to throw a no-hitter."

I have a soft spot for those who battle disease. Although I know a part of these fighters wants to be thought of like anyone else, they also feel prouder of their accomplishments because of their past. Be proud, Jon. I'm glad we didn't trade you for Johan. (How many no-no's does he have?)

Speaking of the Mets, when the inning ended, my boss who roots for that team, laughed. I asked him why. "With all their pitching, the Mets still don't have one," he said.

Prediction: Lester will struggle in his next couple of starts, and people will blame this 130-pitch outing.

Phillies: Judging solely from the box score, Brett Myers didn't do as well tonight against the Nationals, losing 4-0. But the offense was also to blame. As one local radio host noted, "It would have taken a Jon Lester performance to win tonight."