BOSTON - Jon Lester didn't want to be babied.

He'd made it back from the treatable non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

He was 7-2 when the cancer diagnosis cut short his rookie season in August 2006.

In Lester's mind, he had gone through his treatments and was healthy.

He was ready to resume full steam ahead in his major league career and wanted a full workload.

The Boston Red Sox had other ideas.

"I know we did a lot of homework on what (Lester) was going through," manager Terry Francona said of the organization's plans for Lester at the start of the 2007 season. "What to expect physically and what was fair to expect. How we should go about this. We did make him go slow.

"I made a call to his folks in spring training and said, 'We're really going to (hiss off) your son.' They laughed. We went slow and it was very frustrating to him. He's a competitor and wanted to get at it, but it was the right thing to do."

Lester began the season on the disabled list and then spent much of the season in the minors. He made 11 starts and 12 appearances for the Red Sox in '07. He made the playoff roster and started the decisive Game 4 in Boston's sweep of the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.

The circumstances are a bit different for Lester as he takes the mound for the Red Sox in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday afternoon at Fenway Park.

Lester has been a horse for the Red Sox, leading them with 33 starts and 210 1/3 innings pitched. His 16 victories and 3.21 ERA were both second to Daisuke Matsuzaka among Boston starters.

Lester started Games 1 and 4 in the Red Sox' victory over the Los Angeles Angels in the AL Division Series.

"I think this year coming into spring training I felt I was fully back," said Lester, a 24-year-old lefthander who is 27-8 in 59 career starts, "just because I had a normal offseason, could do a normal routine, come in full strength and be able to do the same workload and routines as everybody else. There weren't really any issues this year."

In hindsight, as frustrating as it sometimes got, Lester knows the Red Sox did right by him in 2007.

"I wanted to go out and pitch," he said. "You don't ever want to have restrictions when it comes to what you do. But in the end, it was the best thing for me.

"I think if they would have just let me go with no restrictions, I think I would have got hurt. I don't think I was physically ready to do the workload that I wanted to do."

With the Red Sox and Rays having split the first two games in Tampa, Monday becomes pivotal.

Boston has taken the homefield advantage and is in position to earn a trip to its second straight World Series by winning the next three games in Fenway, where the Sox were 56-25, second only to Tampa's 57-24 at Tropicana Field.

The Red Sox could have been in position to put a stranglehold on the series, but lost in 11 innings on Saturday night, 9-8, in a game that featured a playoff record-tying seven home runs.

Maybe it comes from the confidence of having swept two World Series in the previous four seasons, but Boston is looking at its trip to Tampa as a mission accomplished instead of an opportunity lost.

"Of course, we feel good about being home," said Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. "We play better at home. Down in Tampa we won one game and played another good one. The series starts up (Monday).

"Critical? What do you mean by critical? We know how to do this. We played two games and it's a long series. It's all good. We just have to keep on playing the way we have."

What the Rays, who are in the postseason for the first time in franchise history, lack in experience they make up for in the enthusiasm and confidence gained for each milestone step.

Being 1-1 going into Fenway instead of 0-2 is "a huge difference," said Tampa righthander Matt Garza, who will start Monday. "It's like a pitch count.

"If the pitcher goes 2-0, it gives the hitter the advantage. Go 1-1 it's a tie ballgame. (Saturday) was a huge win for us. You really can't capitalize that enough. Huge win."

Garza was 1-1 this season against Boston but is 3-1 lifetime against the Sox.

"I'm ready to go," he said. "Lester's had a great year. He's been throwing the crap out of the ball. But my year wasn't that bad, either. I've had a lot of success, especially against Boston. I'll go in confident like I am and see what happens after nine."

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