Jon Lester, LHP (3-4, 5.91) Red Sox (27-18) @
Nick Blackburn, RHP (3-2, 3.83) Twins (22-24)
Scouting Report:
Red Sox: The 25-year-old southpaw improved to 4-2 in his past six decisions last Thursday against the Blue Jays, scattering eight hits over 6 1/3 frames of one-run ball at Fenway Park. Despite allowing 10 baserunners, Lester worked his way out of trouble on several occasions to emerge relatively unscathed. He has been tagged for eight earned runs in 14 2/3 career innings against the Twins.
Twins: Blackburn pitched seven scoreless innings Thursday in a 20-1 victory over the White Sox. The Twins scored so many runs that Blackburn had to do extra stretching between innings and it wasn't worth risking injury to try to have him finish the game, even though both he and manager Ron Gardenhire agreed that he could have. Blackburn scattered four hits and three walks and struck out two to pick up his first victory since April 29 against Tampa Bay. He has struggled in three career appearances (two starts) against Boston, going 1-1 with a 6.59 ERA.