Jason Varitek talks with FSN after the Red Sox beat the Angels 4-3. Varitek hit a RBI double in the 9th inning to give Boston the lead. watch
May 19, 2008: Kansas City Royals 0 at Boston Red Sox 7, F -- If only all the spectators and teammates who reveled in Jon Lester's magical Monday night at Fenway Park could have seen the way it started. There the left-hander was in the bullpen warming up with catcher Jason Varitek, and he had nothing. How was he going to thrive against the Royals when it seemed like all his pitches had stayed home? As it turns out, Lester knows a thing or two about perseverance. And on this night, he stayed the course well enough to throw a no-hitter, the 18th in the history of the Red Sox. "If you all saw my bullpen [session] today, it wasn't pretty," said Lester. "You would have thought I wouldn't have gotten out of the first inning. It was terrible. I got out in the game and I've always been a slow starter. If I can get through the first, second, third, sometimes the fourth inning and be doing all right, then usually I can do all right into the game and get stronger. That was the case. I just felt watch
October 19th, 2008: Boston Red Sox 4 at Tampa Bay Rays 2 F -- Two days after pulling out that astounding and historic comeback that earned them this ticket to Tropicana Field for Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, the Red Sox had no desire for such stress-inflicted heroics. They just needed a workmanlike win to push this riveting series with the Tampa Bay Rays to the limit, and that's precisely what they got. In Saturday's 4-2 victory over the Rays, the big hits were spread throughout the contest instead of being saved for the tense final moments. And this time, the pitching tone was also set early, thanks to a less-than-vintage Josh Beckett relying on grit to earn the win -- Boston's first by a starter since Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game 1. Perhaps no hit was bigger than the solo homer by Jason Varitek, who snapped out of an 0-for-14 drought in the ALCS to break a 2-2 tie with two outs in the sixth. The Red Sox led for the rest of the night. watch
