Red Sox 23-year old SP Jon Lester will return to the Major League squad and start on Monday when the Sox begin a 4-game set on the road at Cleveland.  It will be Lester's first start since 2006, when he left when he became ill with cancer.  In 2006, Lester was 7-2 with a 4.60 ERA.  He will replace Tavarez in the rotation.

To read more about Lester's return visit SOX & Dawgs and/or ESPN

This is great news. I'm thrilled to see Lester back.   His numbers don't show it, but in 2006 he was really good for a while.  He was the only starter who was consistently succeeding for a while.  Maybe the cancer played a role in his later struggles.  I'm glad to see he has beaten the cancer; it's a great, emotional story.  It should be interesting to see how he pitches, as he returns to the mound.  Tavarez's time is finally up.  You had to know it would happen eventually.  He did have some solid starts and held his spot together for a while.  He wasn't terrible, but he was never going to be a guy who could stay in a rotation the whole season.  Welcome back Jon and good luck kid!

The Mets closed out their 7-game west coast swing by defeating the Dodgers 5-4 in 10 innings Sunday afternoon.  After losing 2 out of 3 to the Padres, the Mets took 3 out of 4 from a talented Dodgers club to finish 4-3 on their road trip.  The Padres and Dodgers are two of the best teams in the National League, but the Mets were able to survive a difficult task and come home winners.  The Mets will face the Pirates and Nationals in their next 7 game stretch.  Hopefully, the momentum will continue.

Great trip, but mostly a great series against LA.  The Mets fought hard and their bats came alive in every game, which is great to see.  And a great win today, as Chip Ambres was the hero with a clutch 2-out RBI.  The Mets winning record on this road trip definately gives me confidence and they should be able to at least go 5-2 against the Pirates and Nationals next week.  Hopefully, this is the time we start seeing the real mets.  Alou will be back, and eventually Pedro as well.  The Mets must not lose their momentum now.  It will be hard to retrieve it back down the road if they falter now.

Thanks to all who voted in the First Have MVP Polls and here are the results:

METS: SP John Maine won the vote, receiving 53% of the votes.  Reyes came in 2nd with 28%, and Wright came in 3rd with 14%.  Billy Wagner received the other 3%.  Beltran received 0 votes.

RED SOX: SP Josh Beckett won the vote, receiving 66% of the votes.  Ortiz and Papelbon finished tied for 2nd with 13% of the votes.  Youkilis received the other 6%.  Surprisingly, no votes went to Mike Lowell, who led the team in RBI thfirst half or rookie sensation Dice-K.

I guess Maine deserves it, because he had a brilliant first half to help an inconsistent starting rotation.  Reyes deserves it too, but the offense was not good enough in the first half.  Thus, the best pitcher deserves more credit than the best hitter.

Beckett definately deserves it for the Sox, as he was one of the best pitchers in all of baseball through the first half.  Where would the Sox be with lets say, the 06 version of Beckett, instead of the 07 version?  I'm really surprised no one voted for Lowell, as Mike had an outstanding first-half, carrying the offense along with YOOUUK, when Ortiz and Manny were struggling.

Thanks again all for voting and be sure to vote in the new polls before the trade deadline hits soon!