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Lester, Red Sox close out series with Indians

Sep 25, 2008 - 10:03 AM Cleveland (79-79) at Boston (93-65), 7:05pm EDT

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Last October, only the Boston Red Sox stood between the Cleveland Indians and a World Series berth. This year, all the Red Sox can do to the Indians is keep them from finishing with a .500 record. Talk about lowering the stakes.

While Boston already has another playoff spot sewn up, Cleveland will try to keep its head above water when the teams meet to close out their four-game series on Thursday.

The Indians' magic number is two - that is, two more wins and they can finish at .500, a consolation prize for a season that started with great expectations. Anything less than two wins and they'll be another mediocre American League Central team, a repeat of the disappointing 2006 squad that finished with 78 wins after compiling 93 the year before.

To try to even up their four-game series with the Red Sox, who have taken the last two games, the Indians sent Jeremy Sowers (4-8, 5.48 ERA) to the mound. The 25-year-old lefthander is riding a three-start unbeaten streak, which includes two stellar outings. In his last start, a 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, he gave up one run and five hits over six innings while striking out three and walking two.

He will face off against fellow lefthander Jon Lester (15-6, 3.26), who put together four dominant performances in a row before falling back to earth in his last start. Still, over his last five outings he is 4-1 with a 2.10 ERA.

As the Red Sox try to get their postseason roster in order, the big question surrounding Lester will be where he fits into the team's pitching rotation. He has emerged as an ace, carrying the load while Josh Beckett struggled.

With Lester going on Thursday, he would be available to pitch Game One of Boston's first-round playoff series should manager Terry Francona choose to go with him. Other candidates would be Beckett - last year's dominant postseason ace and Cy Young runner-up - and Daisuke Matsuzaka, this year's Opening Day starter who is among baseball's leaders in wins and ERA.