Lester Leaves Game Against Blue Jays With Left Lat Strain
BOSTON (AP) - Jon Lester left Boston's 3-2 win over Toronto on Tuesday night with a left back strain after pitching four hitless innings but doesn't think the injury is serious.
"It should be fine," he said. "I don't think it's a long-term issue."
The left-hander went to the clubhouse after throwing 50 pitches, 35 for strikes, ending his stint by striking out Adam Lind to end the top of the fourth. Matt Albers (3-3) replaced Lester for the fifth with Boston leading 3-0 and allowed Toronto's first hit, a two-out single in the sixth by Jose Bautista.
"We'll certainly get him checked out extensively" on Wednesday, Boston manager Terry Francona said. "The good sign of it, I think, is that he didn't do it on one pitch. Between innings, it felt like it was cramping on him. There's no way we're going to let him pitch."
Lester strained the muscle just below his left shoulder.
"There's no point in going out there and pushing it right now," Lester, who wanted to keep pitching, said after the game.
He could miss his scheduled start on Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles, Boston's last game before the All-Star break.
Lester (10-4) struck out five and walked one of the 13 batters he faced. Only one ball left the infield, a drive by Bautista to deep right-center that center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury tracked down.
In his previous start, Lester allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings in a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
