Lester throws a No-Hitter!

Even more proof that you never know what to expect when you go to the ballpark. One day after staff ace Josh Beckett struggles his way through a victory, inconsistent #4 starter Jon Lester comes out and throws a no-hitter. Incredible. We’re getting a little spoiled around there as far as no-hitters go. After going almost 40 years without having a no-no at Fenway, we’ve now had three in less than ten. We better not start expecting them.

This marks the second straight no-hitter baseball wide to be thrown by a Red Sox pitcher under 25 years old. The farm system “machine” that Theo talked about appears to be in full swing. You can always use young pitching, and the Sox look to have lots of it.

Jason Varitek has now caught four no-hitters…the most ever. I know that no-hitter are fairly fluky, and hit-or-miss…but that has to be more than coincidence, right?

Speaking of fluky no-hitters, how odd is it that Lester has one, Hideo Nomo has two, and Pedro never got one?

Only Lester could throw a no-hitter while walking only two, and still chuck up 130 pitches. Even while dominating, he’s throwing as many pitches as he can. Maybe that’s just him?

There’s another example of the Yankee-Red Sox role reversal. It the late nineties, the Yankees were winning the division every year, and their pitchers were throwing no-hitters left and right. Doc Gooden, David Cone, David Wells all pushed across no-nos in those years. And here the Red Sox are with four no-hitters since 2001, and they’re the class of the league. Once again, is it coincidence?

Congratulations Jon!