MINNEAPOLIS -- Jon Lester didn't figure in the win as the Red Sox snapped a five-game losing streak at Target Field Monday night, but he did manage to stay around long enough to contribute.
Lester was spotted a three-run lead after an inning-and-a-half, but a fourth-inning meltdown saw him allow four runs to the Minnesota Twins, with another run coming in the fifth as the Sox fell behind, 5-3.
But after that, Lester found something and retired the final seven hitters he faced, getting through seven innings and limiting what the bullpen had to shoulder. It was a big difference-maker as Boston rallied for a 6-5 victory.
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"That's what you've got to do sometimes,'' shrugged Lester, who allowed five runs on six hits with four walks and four strikeouts, "when you don't have your best stuff or keep putting yourself in jams.
"After the fourth inning, I just told myself, 'Try to go as deep as you can; try to eat innings and give these guys a chance to swing the bat.' They did a great job tonight of doing that, coming back and bailing me out.''
Lester unraveled in the fourth, allowing a two-run double to Ryan Doumit on an 0-and-2 pitch and, one batter later, a two-run homer to Danny Valencia on a 1-and-2 pitch.
"Anytime you give up hits like that in crucial situations like that, it's frustrating,'' said Lester. "But obviously when you're ahead in the count, you've got to do a better job of executing and putting a guy away.
"Doumit kind of reached out and pulled a curveball. Really, the only pitch -- besides the walks -- that I wanted back was the Valencia pitch. I was trying to go in and maybe elevate a little bit and we just left a ball middle-middle, out over the plate.''
Lester made up for it in the fifth, when, after a two-out walk to Joe Mauer, he retired Josh WIllingham on a groundout.
That began a stretch that saw Lester get seven outs on just 19 pitches.
"I don't know what it was,'' said Lester of the turnaround. "I got locked in. Nothing changes physically or mechanically or anything. For whatever reason, I don't know if it was one of those screwup mentalities or what. But something got me locked up and I started throwing the ball more aggressively downhill and obviously, the results were a lot better.''