With the playoffs on the horizon, Lester continues to shoulder a heavy workload for the Sox at the top of their rotation and could face another 30 or 40 innings of stressful work before his season is complete.

The workload might sound heavy, but it isn't daunting to the left-hander.

"You know what ... at this time of year (innings) don't matter," Lester said. "You go out and do what you have to do. You load up on Advil and you load up on whatever you have to and you go out there and perform. You have more adrenalin than you've ever had, and it doesn't matter how your arm feels or how your body feels."

Lester's confidence in his arm and his health comes in a breakthrough season where he has a team-leading 20 quality starts, and he has gained strength with another 20 pounds as the season has progressed.

"I think I'm a little more confident in my role on this team," Lester said. "It helps you as a person and as a pitcher to know that your teammates, your manager and the front office have the confidence to start you in a playoff game."

The anticipated workload could be a double-edged sword, as it would mean pushing Lester well past his previous innings high as a professional (152 1/3 innings last season) while also signifying a successful run deep into the postseason.

"He's probably exceeded that (innings limit) a little bit, and we're aware of that," manager Terry Francona said. "We're very aware of that, but we also believe with his delivery and his body that he is capable of (logging big innings).

"But it's not something that we take for granted."

Two of the things Francona pointed to in Lester's favor are his 6-foot-2, 230-pound frame and a minimum-effort left-handed delivery -- a pair of undeniable attributes that convinced Sox officials that Lester will keep performing at the level that has earned him a sterling 16-6 record and a 3.21 ERA this season.

Lester has also worked significantly fewer stressful innings this season and thrown fewer pitches game by game, as evidenced by a drop in pitches per inning from 17.2 last season to 15.8 this season. The reduced stress has meant more innings without maximum effort -- a formula that the Sox feel will allow Lester to handle the big jump in innings this season.

RED SOX 6, INDIANS 1: Jon Lester took a no-hitter into the bottom of the sixth inning and collected his career-high 16th win of the season behind six innings of quality work. The Sox offense scored five runs in the first two innings and Kevin Youkilis banged his 28th home run of the season to lead Boston to another victory that keeps its flickering divisional-title hopes alive.