Jon Lester

After starting the week with a 4-10 record, the Red Sox enter Saturday afternoon’s game against the White Sox with a chance to reach the .500 mark thanks to a five-game win streak. The matinee game has the potential to be a pitching duel, as Boston will send out ace Jon Lester on Saturday to face White Sox ace Jake Peavy.

Lester is searching for his first win of the season, as he is 0-2 through his four starts and has lost five consecutive decisions dating back to Sept. 11 of last season. The left-hander did not earn a decision in his most recent start, a 6-5 Red Sox win over the Twins, but he gave Boston a chance to win by limiting the Twins to five runs on six hits through seven innings of work.

Lester has a winning record in his career at U.S. Cellular Field. He posted a 4.50 ERA through five starts and owns a 3-2 record in Chicago. Lester’s last outing against the White Sox was a good one, as he tossed eight innings of two-run baseball in a 10-2 Red Sox win on July 30, 2011.

Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski have both hit well against Lester in their careers. Konerko, who is 4-for-8 through the first two games of this series and hit a home run off Daniel Bard Friday, has a .389 career average against Lester with three home runs and six RBIs. Pierzynski hits Lester at a .364 clip and has a double and three RBIs in his career against him.

While Lester enters the game looking to reverse his early-season struggles, Peavy will make the start hoping to improve on his perfect 3-0 record. Peavy’s three-game win streak to start the season is tied for the longest season-opening win streak of his career, as he also won his first three decisions in 2008 while pitching for the Padres.

In his most recent start, Peavy tossed a complete-game shutout in a 4-0 win over the Athletics. Peavy allowed just three hits through his nine innings of work and lowered his ERA to 1.88, the second-best mark among American League pitchers.

Peavy has made just two career starts against the Red Sox and earned a 1-1 record with a 4.50 ERA in those games. The one win came in his most recent start against the Red Sox, a 7-3 Chicago victory back on May 30, 2011. Peavy allowed three runs on six hits in that outing while striking out just two batters through seven innings.

None of the Red Sox have more than nine career at-bats against Peavy. Recent acquisition Marlon Byrd has the most experience against Peavy, as he faced him nine times. Most of those at-bats came while both Peavy and Byrd were in the National League, and Byrd is 2-for-8 against Peavy with a double and two strikeouts. David Ortiz hits Peavy best of any Red Sox player, as he is 3-for-6 against Peavy with one RBI.

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Jon Lester

One of only three pitchers in the majors to record seven wins, Jon Lester (7-1, 3.36) takes the hill Monday night as the Red Sox return home after a successful seven-game road trip (5-2). Since being charged with a loss on Opening Day, the hard-throwing lefty has reeled off wins in his last seven decisions, most recently in a 14-2 victory over Cleveland. In that win, Lester held the Indians scoreless in six frames.

Lester looks to continue his dominance Monday, pitching the first game of a six-game homestand against White Sox righty Jake Peavy. Peavy (1-0, 3.00) has walked just one batter in 18 innings this season and had his last start cut short after three innings due to a lengthy rain delay. Peavy has made just three starts this season, 10 months after having surgery to repair a detached latissimus dorsi muscle in his back. One of those starts was a 111-pitch, three-hit shutout against the Indians.

In addition to leading the American League in wins, Lester is sixth in both strikeouts (70) and walks allowed (27). He is also third in the league in run support at 9.56 per game. Though the Boston bats have been on fire, the offense may look different as the Red Sox played a doubleheader against the Tigers on Sunday. It is likely manager Terry Francona will give a couple of his starters the night off. Francona won’t feel pressured to start any single starter as no Red Sox players have had consistent success against Peavy. In fact, at least five members of Boston’s starting lineup have never faced the Chicago starter before.

Lester has the number of a few White Sox batters, including Alexei Ramirez, who is just 1-for-10 against the 2010 All-Star. Paul Konerko is the lone Chicago hitter who has hit Lester well in the past. In 15 plate appearances, Konerko has one home run, four RBIs and a .333 average.

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At the Red Sox continue to pull away from the Blue Jays (5-0 after five innings), let us turn our attention to happenings elsewhere in the world of baseball. In case you didn’t hear, Padres pitcher Jake Peavy has refused to be traded to the Chicago White Sox in a deal that would have sent four pitchers to San Diego. 

In a statement to reporters today, Peavy said, “”San Diego is the place for us. We’ve made that decision for the time being.”

Penny is 3-5 with a 3.82 ERA turns 28 this month and has three sons, all under the age of 8 years-old. His contract is such that after making $8 million this season, he hauls in $15 in ’10, $16 in ’11, $17 in ’12, while carrying a $22 million team option for ’13.

So, just for arguments sake, if it was the Red Sox making the deal would it have made a difference? Back in March, we caught up with Peavy regarding reports that Boston wasn’t on his list of acceptable destinations (originally reported as New York and Anaheim being the only American League clubs). But Peavy clarified his stance.

TORONTO — In case you were wondering … according to San Diego pitcher Jake Peavy, the Red Sox were never excluded from teams he would accept a trade to. Initially, Padres general manager Kevin Towers had said at the General Managers’ Meetings in November that the only two American League teams on Peavy’s list of acceptable trade destinations were the Angels and Yankees. Later in the offseason, Peavy’s agent, Barry Axelrod, said that his client would, indeed, be open to a deal with the Red Sox. 

Monday, at the Team USA workout at the Rogers Centre, Peavy looked to clarify.

“Boston was a place that I told the Padres I would certainly be interested in playing,” the 28-year-old said. “I don’t know if there were any talks. I gave the Padres a list and Boston was on that list. Boston was a place I told the Padres I would be interested in playing at. Set that straight for sure.”

It doesn’t amount to a ringing endorsement, but Jake Peavy’s agent, Barry Axelrod, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that his client would consider as a last resort a trade to three American League teams: the Yankees, Red Sox and Angels.

Axelrod described the 2007 Cy Young winner as enormously frustrated with the inability of the Padres to trade him thus far. He said that while Peavy’s strong preference is a trade to an N.L. team, he would be open, if absolutely necessary, to a short list of junior circuit teams.

“He prefers the NL, definitely,” Axelrod told the Union-Tribune. “But you know, who knows where things will go from here?

“Jake has a strong preference to stay in the National League. If Jake’s ever going to accept anything to the American League – and I don’t want this to be taken wrong – I can safely say that it’s going to be the Yankees or Red Sox or maybe the Angels. Those teams are going to be in contention and are going to spend money. If there were circumstances where he would be asked to go to the AL, kicking and screaming, those are the three places.”