NEW YORK -- It was a day that was thick with chaos.

Bobby Valentine weaved in and out of explaining how he will handle Carl Crawford going forward. The former Red Sox manager, Terry Francona, held court in the team's clubhouse with the current manager, Valentine, across the hallway, sitting in his office. And, of course, an 8-6 Red Sox win over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium that went from disastrous to heroic within one inning.

But through it all there was one thing that -- if you truly believe there is hope for these 2012 Red Sox -- outweighed it all: Jon Lester's performance.

The numbers weren't mind-blowing by any means, with Lester finishing his no-decision by allowing four runs over six innings. But that wasn't the story. The real takeaway was what could be found on the mound compared to the image that had been presented by Lester of late.

Adjustments were made. Execution was altered. A mindset was flipped around.

But it wasn't until Lester found himself in front of his locker that it was truly determined that the pitcher who had totaled an 0-3 record with a 10.42 ERA in his previous four starts had left the building.

"Once I got in the clubhouse, I sat down and thought, 'OK, that was good. That was where I need to be,'" he said. "Like I said, I elevate one pitch after a walk and it's a homer. I still feel great about it."

There were mistakes, such as the one referenced by Lester -- a fifth-inning, two-run homer by Jayson Nix that brought the Yankees within two runs. But what the lefty did while delivering the majority of his 101 pitches was most notable. The Sox starter soaked in all the advice gleaned through everything from a biomechanics study performed a few weeks ago to pitching coach Bob McClure's emphasis in rediscovering the pitcher's overall confidence.

"I'm not worried about it when I'm out there," he said. "I'm trying to execute what I'm trying to do."

And a big part of what Lester was trying to fix was exactly what was identified by numerous baseball personnel familiar with the pitcher following his last start:

• When delivering the ball, Lester had been throwing his lead leg out toward the plate instead of executing more of a straight, compact, up-and-down motion. (Check.)
• The leg kick was leaving his front foot to drift toward the right. One of the results of such an approach is opening up his body to the hitter well before he should, allowing the hitter to get a great look at what is being delivered. (Check.)
• Another result of letting his lead leg drift out and and over was Lester's arm slot dropping, which caused both a lack of command and the flattening out of his fastball. A delivery that included a more straight-up, down-and-through motion would automatically force a more over-the-top arm angle, not allowing the lefty to throw across his body. (Check.)

As it turns out, the problem hadn't become identifying the issues, but executing the solution.

"It's been kind of a work in progress this year," Lester said. "I fell into some bad habits last year, and this year it's been kind of the same deal, bad habits. I've worked on having better direction. It's been better the last three starts. The results obviously weren't there, but today was just better and downhill.

"It's still a work in progress. I'm still fighting the old way. It's still a work in progress. As long as I keep that feeling, it sounds simple, get your hand on top of the ball and throw it downhill. But sometimes it can be hard. I just have to keep that feeling."

Watching Lester get through his first eight batters without incident, it was easy to see this was a different pitcher than the one who had allowed a career-high 11 runs against the Blue Jays in his previous outing. His front leg could be seen driving toward home plate, with the hitters' view of each offering limited by the newly closed approach.

His first-inning pitch count -- which had gone from 29 to 27 to 29 to 31 over his last four starts -- settled at just 13. For the first time since May 14, Lester made it through the initial two innings without giving up a hit or walk. And after allowing the third-most hits of any pitcher since May 30, this time around Lester gave up just four of them.

"I felt great," Lester explained. "I felt like my body worked better today. It was lot easier. I don't know how many pitches I threw, but the ones I threw the effort level wasn't 150 million mph. It was controlled and what we're trying to do, execute pitches. 

"People don't understand, we're not robots. When guys go in slumps swinging then probably they're not doing something right. But when the ball flattens out, something's wrong. It's just a matter of identifying what's wrong. There's always the stay close, stay back, stay tall, throw the ball downhill. There are always different cues. You just have to figure out what you're cues are to get you back in line. My mindset tonight was regardless of what happens, just continue to stay in that position."

There will be no talk of the minor leagues, or designation for assignment, or trade. (Do people realize how valuable even the potential of a top of the rotation starter who owns a luxury tax hit of just $6 million is these days?) At first glance the appearance might not reek of excellence, but it does ooze importance.

It was a reality Lester uncovered in his moment of solitude.

"Just sitting in my locker and kind of relive everything," he said. "I do it after every start, I relive everything through my eyes before I look at film. Now I go tomorrow just to verify how my pitches were, how they were reacting, how the shape of my pitches were and go from there. I was happy how things turned out."