ALDS Game 1: Sox 4, Angels 1

Phenomenal pitching by Lester last night. Hard to believe that, back in April, he was one of the starters that many were worried was turning into Matt Clement -- he'd get flustered on the mound, he'd start taking forever in between pitches, and he'd rarely make it through the 6th inning. Then he dueled Roy Halladay, threw a no-hitter, and hasn't looked back. I can't remember the last Sox starter to develop in front of our eyes like this -- the last homegrown ace the Sox have produced was Clemens, and it is not like he really developed per se, he started off as a star. Bruce Hurst maybe?

I was very surprised to see Francona go to Masterson to pitch the 8th with a one-run lead instead of Okijima. I don't think it was a simple lefty-righty thing, as Oki has actually been better against righties. I thought Masterson pitched well, as he has all season. Yes, he got lucky with excellent defensive plays by Ellsbury and Youkilis, but don't forget, he was also unlucky in that both of those plays were bloops into no-mans-land.

DiceK goes on Friday night (9:30 start). Let's hope that the Cubs manage to take a game from the Dodgers, so that game 4 of Chicago at LA will be the late game on Sunday night instead of game 3 of Sox-Angels at Fenway.