Here’s how bad it was for Boston lefty Jon Lester: Vernon Wells turned on the best pitch he threw and drilled it for a two-run homer.
Wells hit two home runs, Marco Scutaro added a solo shot and the Toronto Blue Jays roughed up the usually reliable Lester in an 11-0 rout of the Red Sox on Saturday.
“Nothing was really working,” Lester said. “I was rushing through my delivery, not a good tempo. When I did get the groundballs that I needed, they weren’t at people. It just wasn’t my day. Basically, everything you don’t want to do, I did today.”
Lester (12-5) had won nine of his past 10 decisions and lasted at least seven innings in eight consecutive starts, but he was knocked out after 2 1-3 innings this time—the shortest start of his career. The lefty matched a career high by allowing seven earned runs. He gave up eight hits and walked two.
“Today he just seemed a little flat, up in the zone,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “He made some mistakes and, on top of that, it seemed like every ball found a hole.”
Wells got the Blue Jays rolling in the first with a two-run drive off the facing of the second deck in left.
