Jon Lester looked strong once again on Tuesday as the Red Sox ace allowed just one run over four innings of work against the Astros, who topped the punchless Red Sox 3-0.
The southpaw cruised through the first three innings, allowing just two infield singles and a walk. In the fourth frame, however, his wild pitch with Carlos Lee on third base proved to be his only hiccup. Lee led off the inning with a single, followed by a walk to Chris Johnson — Red Sox third base coach Ron Johnon's son. Lee then advanced to third on a double play ball by Chris Shelton but the lefty couldn't close out the frame before tossing the run-scoring wild pitch.
Lester threw 60 pitches, 34 for strikes, and left the contest with the Red Sox trailing 1-0.
The Red Sox bats, meanwhile, managed just four hits on the afternoon. Jason Varitek and Oscar Tejada each doubled while Jeremy Hermida and Angel Sanchez chipped in with base hits.
Michael Bowden allowed one run on two hits in two innings of relief while Fernando Cabrera allowed an eighth-inning run.
