Jon Lester

In recent weeks a lot has been made about the American League Cy Young award and the debate has mostly surrounded CC Sabathia vs. Felix Hernandez. Last night the Yankees were blanked by Jon Lester and it was an amazing performance that should put him into that conversation as well.

First, let’s get some stats out of the way:

As your fantasy baseball marathons come down to the wire look to these players to help your team or keep them from hindering your team.  Rookies’ Starlin Castro and Ike Davis should have stellar weeks for your team.

Start ‘Em

Starlin Castro | Chicago Cubs | 81 percent

It may be all over except for the crying.

With eight innings of one-hit ball on Thursday afternoon against the Oakland Athletics, C.C. Sabathia has become the front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award, and he may have even clinched it.

Why?

Well, I'll tell ya.  C.C. Sabathia will be the 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner because . . . 

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Tony Massarotti said on 98.5 The Sports Hub this afternoon that the odds were stacked mightily against the Red Sox heading into Friday night's critical series opener at Tampa Bay.

With Ricky Romero recently signing a new 5-year, $30.1 million contract extension, there have been comparisons drawn to Jon Lester ($30 million) and Yovani Gallardo ($30.1 million), both of whom have signed similar contracts in recent years.  Those two have developed into the elite class of starting pitchers in Major League Baseball, so should we expect Romero to follow?

The Boston Red Sox took care of business tonight in Arlington, TX by defeating the Texas Rangers 3-1.

Jon Lester received his first victory in four straight losing starts. Lester was masterful, throwing eight scoreless innings with five strikeouts, only allowing five hits.

Boston came up with timely offense in the sixth and ninth innings. JD Drew, Marco Scuatro, and Bill Hall came away the game with one RBI a piece.

As the game came to a completion, Red Sox rookie pitcher Felix Doubront came away with his first career save.

If you're like me and have been distracted by the World Cup and LeBron-gate over these past few weeks, you were probably shocked to learn that baseball's midway point is already upon us.

So to help you get into the swing of things as we head toward the playoffs, here are 50 Reasons To Be Excited For The Second Half of the season...

The fans may not have given the Red Sox much love when casting their ballots for the all-star game, but opposing players and managers- as well as Major League Baseball itself- certainly did as six Red Sox were chosen to play in the Mid-Summer Classic next week in Los Angeles.

And now Sox fans can help to make certain that another player gets to go along too, as a seventh player (1B Kevin Youkilis) is one of five non-selectees nominated in the MLB.com Final Vote.

NOTE: team and player statistics updated through Saturday, July 3.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (47-33)—Last Week: Second

Offense Rank: Fourth
Pitching Rank: Fourth
Last 10 Games: 5-5

2. New York Yankees (49-31)—Last Week: First

Offense Rank: Second
Pitching Rank: Ninth
Last 10 Games: 6-4

3. Texas Rangers (48-32)—Last Week: Sixth

Eighty-one games…that is the midpoint of the season.

Admit it, Red Sox Nation, if you knew what you know right now back on Opening Day you would have been thrilled to be 17 games over .500 and just a half game behind the NY Yankees on Independence Day (by the way, happy 4th of July to everyone!).