OPINION

By Gerry Fraley

updated 9:03 p.m. ET Oct. 12, 2008

BOSTON - With the Rays and Red Sox tied, Boston will start its ace in tonight's third game of the American League Championship Series game.

Here's a hint: He is not righthander Josh Beckett or righthander Daisuke Matsuzaka.

The distinction of staff ace for the Red Sox now falls upon lefthander Jon Lester. He earned it this season, two years after a battle with lymphoma, a blood cancer.

Lester has the stuff of an ace: a mid-90 mph four-seam fastball to go with a sinking two-seam fastball, curveball and mid-70 mph changeup. He has the numbers of an ace, too.

Lester is "the hottest pitcher going now," Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria said. Lester allowed only one unearned run in 14 innings against the Los Angeles Angels in the division series.

Lester led the Red Sox in starts (33) and innings (210 1/3) during the regular season. Matsuzaka had more wins (18 to Lester's 16), but that was as much a function of overwhelming offensive support and the bullpen as his work. Matsuzaka worked the minimum of five innings needed to qualify for a win in five of his victories.

Lester became the staff constant. He pitched at least seven innings in 14 of his last 19 regular-season starts.

"He (Lester) turned into a phenomenal major-league pitcher on top of being a phenomenal kid," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said on Sunday at Fenway Park.

Lester is more than an ace to his club. He is the only reliable starter for the postseason.

Matsuzaka regularly flirts with disaster, and the bullpen goes on red alert when he reaches the fifth. Tim Wakefield, the No. 4 starter, is an unpredictable as his pitch: the knuckleball.

Beckett, the postseason hero, is hurting.

On Saturday night, Tampa Bay rocked him for eight runs in 4 1/3 innings. In two post-season starts, Beckett has an 11.57 ERA for 9 1/3 innings, with opponents slugging .844.

A year ago, as Boston romped to the World Series championship, Beckett had a 1.20 ERA for 30 innings in the postseason, with an opponents' slugging percentage of .271.

Beckett could overpower hitters with his fastball then. He cannot do that now. A series of injuries that started in spring training and continued with a strained right side oblique muscle late in the season have robbed Beckett of his velocity. Without that rare power, Beckett is just a guy.

"You never want to see a teammate, let alone a pitcher, go through stuff like that," Lester said on Sunday. "Everybody has starts like that, and he (Beckett) battled. That's what you do: try to get as many outs as you can.

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"These are mentally tough games. You're trying to do what you know how to do, and it's not cooperating with you. That's the way it goes sometimes."

Beckett's struggles increase the burden on Lester. He must perform well.

This will mark the second time in the postseason that Lester has started after a team loss in which Beckett started. A week ago, he worked seven shutout innings in a no-decision with honor as Boston eliminated the Angels.

Lester pitched like an ace in that game. He must once again be an ace.

"I don't think I try to be that," Lester said of the "ace" designation. "It doesn't matter who's the No. 1 starter and who's the No. 5 starter. We all have equal importance to this team when it comes to winning."

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The Rays have been vulnerable to lefthanders. Longoria admitted he was surprised that the Red Sox waited until Game 3 to use Lester.

"I thought they'd want to use a lefthander as soon as possible," Longoria said.

The Rays' usual lineup is heavy on left-handed hitters. During the regular season, Tampa Bay hit .267 with a .778 OPS against righthanders and .246 with a .726 OPS against lefthanders.

In the division series, the Rays faced a pair of Chicago White Sox lefthanders: Mark Buehrle and John Danks. Tampa Bay reached Buehrle for five runs in seven innings but lost to Danks, who allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings. Buehrle and Danks are a cut below Lester, the Boston ace.

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