CLEVELAND - On the heels of an 11-game winning streak, here's an uplifting thought: The Red Sox haven't come anywhere close to playing their best Baseball yet.
David Ortiz began yesterday without a home run since last September. Josh Beckett and Brad Penny have had as many bad starts as good. The defense hasn't always been airtight. Dustin Pedroia has been getting his hits, but isn't yet a force. Following two poor starts with two of Cy Young quality, Lester took the mound against the Indians last night looking to end the Red Sox' losing streak at one. But it was a struggle right from jump street.
Battling to harness his control for most of the night, the left-hander fought just to reach the sixth inning. By the time he settled down, he had already spotted the Cleveland Indians two homers and five runs, putting the Sox in a hole they didn't even start to dig out of until the sixth.
The first batter suggested this wasn't going to be Lester's night. Grady Sizemore hit a comebacker that Lester boxed around to put the leadoff man on first.
Lester picked Sizemore off, but Asdrubal Cabrera singled and scored on a Victor Martinez triple to center that hit the wall just over the outstretched glove of the leaping Jacoby Ellsbury. Shin Soo Choo followed with a sacrifice fly and it was 2-0.
The Indians pushed their edge to 3-0 on Mark DeRosa's second home run in as many days in the second inning and then took control when Kelly Shoppach, the rare designated hitter batting ninth, smacked a two-run homer in the fourth on his 29th birthday for a 5-0 lead.
Missing starters Kevin Youkilis and J.D. Drew, the Red Sox couldn't do much with Indians starter Fausto Carmona. Ellsbury led off the game with a single, but Pedroia followed with a double play grounder.
The Sox then loaded the bases in the second on two walks and a hit by pitch, but Ellsbury struck out to end the frame.
The visitors' next hit didn't come until there were two outs in the sixth. With Jason Bay on first following his team-record-tying 23rd walk of April, Mike Lowell extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI double to left. Jason Varitek followed with a double to center that scored Lowell and made it 5-2 before Jeff Bailey grounded out to short to end the threat.
The Red Sox wanted a win last night in particular because they start a four-game series in St. Petersburg, Fla., against the rival Rays, who are struggling to right the ship after a brutal April schedule. The Sox weren't scheduled to land in Tampa until 4 a.m., and that's the kind of travel that takes its toll on a team.
The itinerary affects a club more than the four-hour games the Sox have played of late.
``The bigger thing is the travel,'' manager Terry Francona said. ``That's something you need to keep an eye on.''
- jtomase@bostonherald.com
