Jon Lester

Jon Lester (3-5) is coming off his best performance of the season, a complete game, one-run win against the Mariners at Fenway. The performance, which gave Lester just his second win in eight starts, dropped his ERA (3.71) below 4.00 for the first time since early April and marked his first start without allowing a walk.

He’ll have a good opportunity to repeat the feat when he takes the mound Saturday night in Philadelphia, as, through Thursday, only the lowly Pirates have drawn fewer walks than the Phillies. Overall, Philadelphia enters the weekend series ranked slightly below league average in nearly every offensive category, including runs (17th), on-base percentage (19th) and slugging percentage (16th).

Against Lester, Philly’s numbers are even worse. Only four of the 11 Phillies he’s faced have ever had a hit off of him. Collectively, Philadelphia is hitting just .188 against the big lefty.

Joe Blanton (4-3) will be taking the mound for the Phillies. After losing almost all of 2011 to elbow troubles, Blanton is off to the best season of his career, posting an elite 35:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 48 innings and a 2.96 ERA.

The Red Sox however, have hit Blanton well in the past. The 11 Sox players who have faced him are batting .287 with a .341 on-base percentage and eight home runs.

Last season the Sox lost two of the three games against Philadelphia. Overall, Boston is 28-18 against the Phillies since 1997, including 15-11 in Philadelphia.

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Jonathan Papelbon left Boston for Philadelphia, but he remains the same lively personality. (AP)

With the Red Sox set to open a three-game interleague series in Philadelphia Friday night, Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon has been placed in the spotlight after some comments he made to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford earlier in the week.

Beyond repeatedly referring to himself in the third person — both as “Pap” and his alter ego on the mound, “Cinco Ocho” — the former Sox closer raised eyebrows with his criticism of the Red Sox training staff.

“I know myself better than anybody. I know myself better than any trainer in Boston, [who] tried to tell me that they knew me better. … The previous trainer tried to tell me that he knew everything about me. It’s just not the case. I know myself. I knew how to get through a 162-game season. A trainer doesn’t know how to do that.”

Papelbon attributed his decision to leave Boston in part due issues with the training staff, but said former manager Terry Francona’s departure weighed heaviest.

“A huge light bulb went off in my head,” Papelbon said of his feeling when Francona’s fate was determined. “I wouldn’t say that was it, but it was about 99.9 percent [sure of not returning]. Yeah, I was shocked.”

Asked whether embattled starter Josh Beckett was a leader among the Sox pitchers, Papelbon didn’t mince words. “Yeah.” Papelbon said. “[Expletive] yeah.”

Finally, as to whether or not he feels he made the right decision to leave, Papelbon answered, “if you tell me I can look into a crystal ball, and that I can tell you these people are going to be here and these people are going to be there and I can see what I’ve got here,” he said, “I leave.”

According to CSNPhilly.com, the Phillies are in “serious pursuit” of a player who would seem a good fit for the Red Sox. Michael Cuddyer, a 32-year-old who made his first All-Star team in a 2011 season in which he hit .284 with a .346 OBP, .459 slugging mark, .805 OPS and 20 homers in 139 games, represents a versatile right-handed hitter who can contribute at a number of positions.

In his career, though primarily a right-fielder and first baseman in recent seasons, Cuddyer has played every position except for catcher and shortstop. He also delivers a significant amount of thump against left-handed pitchers. Cuddyer pounded southpaws at a .311/.403/.589/.993 clip with 10 homers in 2011; in his career, he is a .290/.378/.491/.869 hitter against left-handers.

Sox GM Ben Cherington has identified a right-handed hitting outfielder as offseason priority for the Sox this winter, and Cuddyer would appear to fit that bill. However, Cuddyer — who completed a four-year, $33.5 million contract with the Twins this year while earning $10.5 million — is a Type A free agent, meaning that the team that signs him might have to forfeit a top draft pick to the Twins as compensation for his acquisition.

John Kruk

ESPN baseball analyst John Kruk joined Mut & Merloni Tuesday afternoon to discuss the winners and losers of the trade deadline and determine which team has the upper hand in the home stretch of the regular season. To hear the full conversation, check out the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

The Red Sox made a last-second deal for starting pitcher Erik Bedard on July 31, hoping to fill the void left by Clay Buchholz‘ season-ending stress fracture. While more than a few critics have questioned Bedard’s ability to perform on a stage like Fenway Park (he’s 2-3 with a 6.99 lifetime ERA in Boston), Kruk endorsed the trade, and said Bedard should relish the chance to play for a contender.

“Maybe [playing in Boston] is what he needs,” Kruk said. “He’s never had to do it. Maybe this is what he needs. Maybe this is something that will get him going. Look, if you can’t go to Boston and get up to play games, if you can’t go to New York and get up to play games, knowing you’re going to have a chance every night to win … You have to remember the situations he’s been in. Awful. Baltimore, awful. Seattle, awful. He has a chance now to be on a team where if anyone has any sort of heart or any sort of determination at all, he dials it up a notch knowing he has a chance to get a ring and pitch in the World Series. If anyone can’t do that, they shouldn’t play.

“I think with Buchholz possibly being out for the season, they had to have an arm and [Bedard] wasn’t pitching bad for Seattle,” he added. “I know it’s not a great hitters division and Seattle is a pretty good place to pitch, bigger ballpark, but I still like the move. I understand his numbers at Fenway aren’t great. They’re awful. But he’s not pitching against [the Red Sox], he’s pitching against the opponent. So that’s a good thing for him too. Sometimes these under-the-radar-type deals where you don’t give up a whole lot, you take a shot and see what happens. He might come in and be a dominant pitcher like he was a few years ago.”

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Hunter Pence

According to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com, the Phillies were close to acquiring prized outfielder Hunter Pence from the Astros, but the deal fell through earlier this week. The Phillies reportedly offered two of their best prospects, first basemen Jonathan Singleton and pitcher Jarred Cosart, but Houston refused the trade.

Now it looks like the Astros may hold on to Pence. Just minutes after Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported the Braves were turning their attention to the slugger, Dan Knobler of CBSSports.com tweeted the Astros have told teams they will likely hold onto Pence until the offseason.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Phillies have now turned their attention to White Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin, who’s hitting .263 with 20 home runs and 62 RBIs this season.

Carlos Beltran

According to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated, the Phillies and Red Sox are the two most likely teams to land Carlos Beltran in a trade.

Philadelphia seems to have a slight edge because the Mets are reportedly interested in Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown and are not afraid to trade Beltran to their division rival.

As for the Red Sox, Heyman reports they have been one of the most aggressive teams pursuing Beltran, although they appear less willing to deal as many prospects as the Phillies.

Both teams could certainly use Beltran. The Phillies rank 20th in batting average, while the Red Sox continue to cycle between J.D. Drew, Josh Reddick and Darnell McDonald in right field.

The Braves, Giants, Tigers, Brewers, Indians, Rangers and Pirates are also potential suitors for Beltran.

Carlos Beltran

According to Tim Brown and Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, the Mets have given Carlos Beltran a short list of teams they could trade him to, and the Phillies are one of them.

Philadelphia’s starting rotation has been terrific this season, but the team’s offense has struggled to keep up, ranking 14th in runs and 20th in batting average. The switch-hitting Beltran ranks ninth in the National League with 59 RBIs and is hitting .287 entering Wednesday.

The Giants and Red Sox have shown interest in Beltran as well, and Yahoo! reports that the Mets slugger would prefer to stay close to his New York home, making Boston a more likely destination than San Francisco.