Game Preview: Sox @ Oakland GM3

Lester (3-2, 3.41) vs. Blanton (2-6, 3.87)
Game 3 of 3 @ 4:05, Oakland Coliseum

On the heels of the announcement that Sox starter and cancer survivor Jon Lester's father has also been diagnosed with cancer, six days after Lester pitched a no hitter at Fenway and one day after A's hurler Justin Duchscherer nearly duplicated the feat to send Boston to its second straight loss, Lester will take the mound today in Oakland.

Good thing for the quiet lefty there won't be much hubbub or pressure surrounding this start.

But if the Sox are to get back on the winning track it will be up to the unassuming young hurler-turned-role model to get the team back to its winning ways.

Since the Sox have taken their recent seven game home winning streak on the road they have lost two straight in the city by the Bay, and neither game has been close, or pretty.

Friday night Boston got crushed ,8-3, in a game that wasn't even that close, and last night the inexperienced starter Duchscherer held the Sox hitless for 6 1/3 innings before settling on a one-hit shutout.

Today the attention will turn back to Lester, whether he likes it or not, as not only will he have to deal with ending a losing skid, but the pressure of trying to follow up his magical performance of last Monday night.

Not that we're asking him to duplicate the feat, which has only been accomplished once in MLB history by Johnny Van Der Meer in 1938, but the Nation will settle for a solid start and hope that the suddenly anemic offense can get back to mashing the ball like it did all during the homestand.

During that seven game stand Boston averaged 7 runs per game, scoring less than three runs only once in a 2-1 win against the Royals. In two games in Oaktown Boston has managed just three runs total, dropping the teams road mark to an underwhelming 10-16 comapred to its steallar 21-5 record at home.

Manny Ramirez, who has been slumping majorly, will return to the lineup today after sitting out yesterday's game, and hopefully the combination of the regular lineup and the presence of Lester on the mound will lead to an inspired win.

Ramirez, who is in the midst of a 3-26 skid that has dropped his average to .280, should benefit from facing Oakland starter Joe Blanton, off whom he is hitting a robust .556 (10-18) in his career, although he has not homered off the stocky right hander.

Manny is still trying to reach the 500 homer mark and has been stuck on 498 for weeks now. Maybe facing a guy who he has success off of but no homers will change his fortunes.

Blanton has been the victim of poor run support this season as Oakland has scored an average of just over 3 runs per game in his starts, including a 2-1 loss to Boston in the second game of the season in Tokyo.

So we'll see what transpires in the series finale in Oakland today.

Chances are there won't be another no no or near no no on the horizon, though.