Jason Varitek

When a group of reporters approached Jason Varitek [stats] late last night and asked about the performance of Sox starter Jon Lester [stats], the veteran catcher smiled and said, “Did he pitch today? When was that?” It certainly seemed that way. Though Lester threw seven brilliant innings against the Philadelphia Phillies last night at Citizens Bank Park, he was long gone by the time the Red Sox [team stats] emerged with a 13-inning, 5-2 victory.

Lester allowed just one run in those seven innings, and he retired 18 of the final 19 batters he faced. And with 11 strikeouts, Lester became the first Red Sox pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 2004 to register 10 or more strikeouts in at least three consecutive starts. And he’s the first left-hander in the history of the franchise to do it.Not bad for a guy who couldn’t find his curveball for the first couple of innings.

“Early on, I was coming out of my delivery a little bit, and I wasn’t able to throw my curveball for a strike, or curveballs in general, really,” said Lester. “I was a little quick, trying to do too much, too early.” What the lefty needed was some Tek-nical support. “Stay back and let your arm do the work,” Varitek told Lester. Said Lester after the game, “It sounds easy, it sounds dumb, but it’s all about executing pitches . . . I wasn’t doing that at the beginning of the game.”