Lester moved to Tuesday.

• Position: SPORTS

Byline: Bill Ballou

YANKEES 5, RED SOX 2

FENWAY PARK, BOSTON

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E

New York 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 5 12 1

Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 7 1

Winning pitcher: Kuroda (9-6). Losing pitcher: Lackey (7-7). Att: 37,601.

Jon Lester has a poker face, so his moods are hard to read, but as he sat in a chair outside of John Farrell's office early Saturday afternoon, Lester looked like man holding a bad hand.

At about 12:40, Lester went in to see the manager and closed the door behind him. A half hour later, Farrell announced that the lefty would not start tonight's game as scheduled, but will take some more time off and pitch here Tuesday night.

Citing general wear and tear as the issue, Farrell added, "We felt like we can do two things - one, we have an opportunity now to give him a couple extra days coming out of the break. Two - he'll benefit from it."

According to Farrell, the first indication that something might be up with Lester was after the workout on Thursday when he told the Sox he wasn't feeling great.

Lester's last start was on July 13 in Oakland, so he will be pitching on nine days' rest.

Lester has pitched so poorly recently that it is inevitable to draw a parallel between his struggles and what happened to John Lackey in 2011. Lackey labored through a terrible season, all the while pitching with a sore elbow that underwent Tommy John surgery after the season ended.

Through May 15, Lester was 6-0 with a 2.72 ERA and had a one-hitter to his credit. Since then, he is 2-6 with a 6.27 ERA in 11 appearances. Those numbers are reminiscent of Lackey in 2011.

Boston tried a similar mini-vacation with Lester at the break in 2012. He got eight days off between starts then. When he returned with the extra rest under his belt, he went 0-4 with an 8.79 ERA in his next five appearances.

Tale of two hammies

Stephen Drew was activated from the disabled list after missing 16 games with a right hamstring injury. Shane Victorino has a left hamstring injury but was not in the starting lineup as Daniel Nava played right field. Victorino, bothered by what has turned into a chronic issue with his hamstring, probably will play today.

In order to make room for Drew on the roster, the Red Sox optioned Brock Holt to Pawtucket. The decision to send down Holt and keep Brandon Snyder was made mostly because Snyder is a right-handed hitter and Holt a lefty like Drew.

Drew was in the starting lineup at shortstop, while Jose Iglesias moved back to third base...