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BOSTON -- Jon Lester didnt feel very good warming up before the game. He couldnt have done much better once it started. The lefty struck out a career-high 15, allowing one hit over eight scoreless innings and pitching the Boston Red Sox over the Oakland Athletics 6-3 on Saturday. "Its probably the worst cutter Ive thrown in a bullpen in a long time, but I dont take much stock in my bullpens anymore," Lester said. "Youre down there to get loose. I think the biggest thing for me is just getting on the mound and getting that adrenaline going." He faced 26 batters and just nine hit the ball in fair territory. The only As to reach base against him were Craig Gentry on a leadoff single in the third and Derek Norris on walks to start the fifth and eighth. "Just the combination of power and command was impressive," Boston manager John Farrell said. "He was locked in seemingly from the first pitch." Lester (3-4) got plenty of support on a grand slam by Jonny Gomes and solo homers by David Ortiz and David Ross in Bostons second straight win after losing a day-night doubleheader to Tampa Bay on Thursday. But Oakland scored three runs off Chris Capuano in the ninth and had the tying run at the plate before Koji Uehara struck out Alberto Callaspo and retired Brandon Moss on a fly to right, securing his seventh save in seven opportunities. "I knew we had it the whole way," Lester said. "Weve got the best closer in baseball out there." The only hit off Lester was Gentrys bloop single in the third over the head of second baseman Dustin Pedroia. "Thats the best performance Ive seen him have," Oaklands Nick Punto said. Lester rebounded from taking the loss in his previous two games by striking out nine of his first 13 batters. His previous strikeout best was 13 on July 24, 2010, in a 5-1 loss at Seattle. "He looked pretty cozy out there," Gomes said. Lester, who threw a no-hitter on May 19, 2008 against Kansas City, struck out every hitter in the Oakland lineup, fanning Josh Reddick three times and Punto, Callaspo, Coco Crisp and Josh Donaldson twice each. Gomes hit the fifth slam of his career one day after Pedroia hit one. Tommy Milone (0-3) allowed Gomes homer after Pedroia walked, Xander Bogaerts singled and Ortiz walked. "It always seems that every time you walk somebody they have a tendency of scoring," Milone said, "so it just took that one big hit from Gomes to set the tone." Milone struck out the next four batters but ran into trouble again in the third when Ortiz led off with his sixth homer of the year. Ross started the fourth with his third homer. Lester threw 119 pitches before being replaced by Capuano to start the ninth. In his previous two starts, Lester threw 118 pitches in a 7-2 loss to the New York Yankees on April 22 and 122 in a 4-1 loss at Toronto last Sunday. Punto started the ninth with a double and took third on a single by Crisp. Both scored when Jed Lowrie doubled and left fielder Gomes threw wildly to the plate for an error. After Donaldson was hit by a pitch, Uehara walked Yoenis Cespedes. Norris hit into a forceout at home, but catcher Ross throw to first went wild, allowing a run to score before Uehara ended the threat. "Its easy to just cash it in after youve struck out 15 times in eight innings and hadnt had too many good swings and youre frustrated," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said, "and then to get those kind of at-bats in the ninth inning, its good." NOTES: Capuano hadnt allowed a run in his other 12 outings this season. ... Pedroia has reached base 35 times in his last 17 games. ... The Athletics have scored no runs while Milone was in the game in his three losses. ... Sonny Gray (4-1) pitches for Oakland in the finale of the three-game series against John Lackey (4-2) on Sunday. ... The crowd cheered each time a Red Sox worker walked along the left-field warning track to change the number next to the Bruins name on the scoreboard after each of their last three goals in Game 2 of their playoff series against Montreal. Boston was trailing 3-2 in the third period then scored three goals in the last six minutes to win 5-3 and even the series at 1. Wholesale Custom Jerseys . Toronto dropped a 7-2 decision to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon, with only a pair of late runs preventing a second straight shutout loss. Josh Willingham belted a two-run homer in the first inning and Kendrys Morales hit a bases-clearing double in the seventh as the Twins took the rubber game of the three-game series. Wholesale Custom Jerseys Authentic .Mallais and his team out of Saint John defeated James Grattan 5-4 in Fredericton.The 2015 Tim Hortons Brier from Feb. http://www.jerseyscustom.us/.com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Cheap Custom Jerseys . Speaking on Leafs Lunch with Bryan Hayes and Jamie McLennan on Thursday, Bernier said it was "very hard" at times being entrenched behind Jonathan Quick and is now excited at the prospect of getting an opportunity to compete with Reimer for the top spot with the Leafs. Custom San Francisco 49ers Jerseys . Hollis-Jefferson went 5-for-6 from the field and added six rebounds, while Stanley Jefferson contributed 14 points for the Wildcats, who used their trademark tough defense to dominate the games final 24 minutes and advance to Tuesdays winners bracket matchup with Kansas State. GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Talib Zanna had 19 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to help Pittsburgh beat No. 15 North Carolina 80-75 in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals Friday. James Robinson also scored a career-best 19 points for the fifth-seeded Panthers (25-8), who used a dominating start to build a huge lead before having to hold off a late rally by the fourth-seeded Tar Heels (23-9). Pittsburgh led by 20 points with 7:22 left before UNCs frantic comeback behind Marcus Paige, who scored 20 of his 27 points after halftime before fouling out with 25.4 seconds left. UNC got it to 78-75 on Nate Britts jumper with 11.4 seconds left but couldnt complete the comeback. James Robinson knocked down two free throws to make it a two-possession game again right after Britts score, then Lamar Patterson rebounded a hurried 3-pointer by James Michael McAdoo with 4.3 seconds left to essentially seal it. Now, after a dominating performance in Thursdays second round and a bumbling-but-successful finish Friday, the Panthers will face sixth-ranked and top-seeded Virginia in Saturdays semifinals. Zanna, a 6-foot-9 fifth-year senior, came within two rebounds of tying the single-game tournament rebounding record that had stood since 1959. He fouled out with 1:03 left. Zanna had 10 offensive rebounds -- one shy of UNCs team total -- and helped Pitt control the boards while taking a 21-6 edge in second-chance points against a team that was third in the league in rebounnding margin for the regular season.dddddddddddd With all those point-blank extra looks off offensive rebounds, Pitt shot 52 per cent for the game. North Carolina spent all day trying to recover from a terrible start. It missed 16 of 19 shots and fell behind 25-8, though its late comeback at least gave them some hope of sticking around Greensboro a little longer. North Carolina shot 42 per cent, though much of that production came after Pitt had built a 61-41 lead on Josh Newkirks three-point play midway through the second half. The Panthers have won five of six to pull out of a three-game losing streak that started to threaten their NCAA tournament chances, with this ranking as probably their best of the year. Now the Tar Heels are suddenly struggling. The Tar Heels started 0-3 in the ACC and stood at 1-4 before running off 12 straight wins, including a home win against Pittsburgh, to earn a top-four seed and double-round bye that came with it. But UNC didnt play well in the final two games of the streak and lost at Duke to close the regular season last weekend, sending them into Greensboro coming off their first loss since Jan. 20. The rebounding trouble was particularly alarming for UNC considering it managed just 20 rebounds in last weekends loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium. During one demoralizing second-half stretch, Zanna tipped in offensive rebounds on consecutive possessions and had 17 rebounds to UNCs 16 with nearly 14 minutes still left. ' ' '