Jon Lester: It Was Just Rosin

After a masterful performance in Game One of the World Series you would think that Boston Red Sox ace Jon Lester would be riding a high. Instead he has had to deal with accusation that he was cheating Wedneday night when he held the Cardinals to just five hits over 7 2/3 innings of work.

@corkgaines/Twitter

A minor league pitcher in the Cardinals organization got the ball rolling when he tweeted "Jon Lester using a little Vaseline inside the glove tonight?'' along with a picture (that has since been deleted). Since the internet loves a good controversy--especially one on the biggest stage in baseball--it did not take long for this story to take off.

Eventually Lester responded to the controversy--and said it was just rosin.

"The picture does look bad, but it's rosin,'' Lester said in USAToday. "My next start, in Game 5, I'll go out there and do the exact same thing, and hopefully have the same outcome in the game.

"Last night (with a game-time temperature of 50 degrees) was really not a night you want to use Vaseline. You want a grip on the ball, not throwing it off the backstop.''

Is he telling the truth? Cardinals manager Mike Matheny thinks so. When he spoke on the matter he was quick to recognize that while the accusation did come from someone within the organization it was not from anyone on the team and involved with the World Series.

Folks need something to talk about since the game was a blowout there wasn't much else to do other than find some trash--or create it.

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