The results were eerily similar, but the images differed dramatically.
 
A year ago Jon Lester was hoping, now he is knowing.
 
On April 9, 2008 Lester pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up four runs -- all in the fourth inning -- on five hits on the way to being handed his second loss of the season, a 7-2 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Tigers.
 
It would take 14 more regular-season Fenway Park appearances before Lester would suffer the same fate on his home field, with that coming in an identical numbered defeat -- this one a 7-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays -- and a remarkably familiar pitching line. In Wednesday's loss Lester gave up five runs over five innings, with most of the damage also coming in one inning, a four-run fifth.
 
When Lester walked off the mound back in that April start a year ago, he was a frustrated hopeful, still searching for success that never stayed quite long enough.
 
Against the Rays, the lefty left his first start of the season the same way he entered it, as an ace. 
 
"Absolutely," said Lester's new rotation-mate, Brad Penny, when asked if the left-hander could reside at the top of any staff's starters. "You can see it. No doubt."
 
And this was after what many would have identified a year ago as two more steps to the side, and a few more in the wrong direction. This time was different. It is understood that better times are ahead. After that start against Detroit there were no such guarantees.
 
Perhaps nothing posterizes the altered state of Lester's reality than the post-game analysis of his catcher, Jason Varitek. 
 
"He was much, much better than his linescore," said the Red Sox captain of his pitcher's outing against the Rays.
 
Then we go back and look at the quotes from Varitek following that loss to the Tigers, in which Lester fought his then-familiar battles with tempo while not striking out a batter for the first time in his young career.
 
"I really thought Jon threw the ball much better than the linescore," the backstop said.
 
One of those utterances had more substance than the other.
 
On the surface, these were not the typical results befitting a top-of-the-rotation hurler, especially in the ill-fated fifth. Unlike the Red Sox' Opening Day starter, Josh Beckett, Lester wasn't able to escape the Rays' rally, punctuating the frame by allowing Carlos Pena's two-run, two-out homer.
 
"It was pretty deflating," said Lester, who finished with 94 pitches, 60 of which were strikes. "Bad pitch, but I shouldn't have been in that situation. Three-and-oh, have to throw him a fastball. Three-and-one, he pretty much knows what's coming. We're trying to get out of that inning and threw it middle-middle. He did a good job of staying on the ball and driving it center. If I could have it back ... at the time I was trying to get ahead but I need to do a better job of throwing strikes."
 
The result was undeniably frustrating for Lester and the Red Sox, but the path toward getting there was palatable. Take that same fifth inning, for example, when it appeared as though Lester was finding an escape hatch from his troubles.
 
One well-placed, 92 mph fastball got Evan Longoria to hit into an ultra-timely double play. That was the glimpse of the ace. Add in a night full of working both sides of the plate, with a smattering of offerings that weren't even in his repertoire a year ago -- such as a change-up that induced another double-play off the bat of Longoria earlier in the game -- and it showed a pitcher in control.
 
It showed a pitcher that wasn't wearing that uniform this time last year.
 
"I'm just so impressed how he continues to develop, continues to get better," said Red Sox reliever Justin Masterson. "Whatever happens he does a great job learning from it and becoming better because of it. He doesn't let it get him down through the struggles, and works hard to become a better pitcher than he was before. He's always adding pitches to his repertoire, mixing and matching, just doing so much to become the best pitcher that he can. That's impressive."
 
Some will say this was the gateway to more concerns, pointing to last year's inning total as the base of their argument. But ask Tampa Bay -- the team that saw the evolution of Lester on the American League's biggest stage last season, Game 7 of the American League Championship Series -- and you'll find the same sort of analysis.
 
Jon Lester, the pitcher who became one of the best lefty starters in all of baseball, hasn't gone anywhere.