Jon Lester is not very good against teams from Chicago this year.
After allowing five runs to the Cubs ten days ago, Lester fared rather worse against the White Sox. Lacking command from the very beginning, Jon struggled to find many of his pitches and was punished by one of the league's worst offenses because of it.
Now, it wasn't just the walks killing Lester, though he did allow four free passes and hit Carlos Quentin twice. The White Sox had their fair share of luck, but that's the margin of error you lose when you give away free baserunners. If he doesn't hit Carlos Quentin in the first inning, then A.J. Pierzynski's single only brings home Alexei Ramirez. If he can get Juan Pierre out in the sixth, then the two-out blooper from Ramirez has no chance of bringing home two runs and leading to two more. But he did, and so the runs scored.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox were busy falling just short time and again. Long fly balls to the warning track? Check. Lined smashes caught on the run? Check. They actually did a decent job against Jake Peavy, with Adrian Gonzalez going deep for the first time in two weeks. It's really a shame that it didn't amount to anything.
This is Boston's first losing streak since they dropped two to the Blue Jays on May 10 and 11. And considering how it happened, it's hard to really feel too bad about much other than Jon Lester's May. But now the Sox need Alfredo Aceves and Tim Wakefield to come through more than ever, because this can't be allowed to snowball.