GOIN' GOOD

It's all goin' good for the Red Sox right now. Especially when you consider that Manny Ramirez doesn't even need pitches in the strike zone to carry this team. Yep, Manny did it again hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning as Boston rallied for a 5-3 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers.

Trailing 3-2 heading into the home half of the eighth inning, the Red Sox pulled even on a David Ortiz run scoring single. That set the stage for Manny. Facing relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit, Manny went downstairs to catch up to a pitch that seemed destined for his left foot and sent it wicked fah over the Green Monster to give the Red Sox a two-run lead. Replays showed the ball to be well out of the strike zone and low. But Ramirez is in a stretch at the plate that is leading to numerous head scratching moments for opposing pitchers. Manny is now hitting .342 on the young season with six homers and 20 runs driven in. And this happening a full 11 days before April turns into May. The homer moved his career HR total to 496.

As a team the Red Sox keep winning. The victory over Texas on Saturday night was their third straight and their sixth in the last eight games keeping them in first place in the American League Eastern Division by a half game over Baltimore.

TOO MANY PITCHES FOR LESTER AGAIN

Red Sox starter Jon Lester did not factor in the decision. And for good reason. Again, Lester had trouble commanding the strike zone and was throwing too many pitches early in the game. He did last into the seventh inning, but came out with one-out after throwing 106 pitches. He ran a deep count on numerous hitters and was behind in the count more often than not. Being forced to come to the plate the Rangers pounded out 10 hits leading to all three of their runs. But he did battle and kept his team in the game. Officially it was a quality start, but don't expect Lester to have better results until he finds a way to attack the strike zone consistently. He dodged a bullet in this performance after retiring just 19 of 31 batters faced.