FROM JOEL SHERMAN

The Yankees and Red Sox are constantly competing against each other and judging themselves by one another. In spring, there were questions asked if you would rather have Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester in your rotation or Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy now, and perhaps add Joba Chamberlain later. Well, Lester pitched a no-hitter on Monday night to join a club that Buchholz entered last September. The no-hitters are merely symbolic. Plenty of ordinary (or worse) pitchers have had magic moments for a single day. And we should note that Buchholz is now on the DL with a broken fingernail and a 2-3 record and 5.53 ERA. But we should also note that Lester is 3-2 with a 3.41 ERA, and at age 24 putting his bout with lymphoma well in the past.

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