Before we get into the news & notes for the Boston Red Sox, let’s kick this post off with a musical montage from before and after the game from the fine musical montage makers at NESN.

All season long, the Red Sox have really been able to count on one pitcher, Jon Lester. While Josh Beckett may be the “ace” of the staff and Daisuke Matsuzaka has 14 wins, Lester has been the stopper for Terry Francona’s ballclub. Whenever the Red Sox have needed to end a losing streak, time and time again Lester has been there to do the job.

Last night was no different as Lester made very few mistakes. The one big mistake that he made was crushed by Aubrey Huff for a home run. That was the only damage done off of Lester. He threw 14 first pitch strikes to batters last night and had great command and location of all his pitches that were constantly pounding the strike zone. His cutter was downright nasty last night.

Jason Bay showed us last night the he will be a valuable member of the Red Sox for this season and next. He let his bat do the talking last night as he had 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. It was good to see him step up last night given the fact that J.D. Drew was out of the lineup with a stiff back.

For the Red Sox to be successful, they will continue to need Bay and others to step up while Mike Lowell and Drew are out of the lineup. And when both of them return, only good things can happen.

Kevin Youkilis explained the play on Sunday at first base where he bobbled the ball isn’t as easy as it looks.

Dave Trembley has sent Garrett Olsen and Dennis Sarfate to the bullpen for the time being.

Josh Beckett will most likely just forget about his outing on Sunday and move forward.

Here’s a Q & A with Orioles prospect Jake Arrieta who is playing for the USA Olympic Baseball team.

The Red Sox placed a call to the Shelton team who is representing New England at the Little League World Series. Unfortunately it didn’t help as Shelton was eliminated yesterday.

David Ortiz says his knee is stronger than ever and he really doesn’t think about his wrist injury anymore.

Kevin Millar reflected back on some of his Manny being Manny moments while a member of the Red Sox.

I linked over to Curt Schilling’s blog entry on Friday where he hinted at retirement and now the media is finally catching on.

For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant and Providence Journal websites.

And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying you can check out the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post websites.