Lester's father also has cancer
Jon Lester's father has a highly treatable form of cancer, the Boston left-hander and lymphoma survivor said in an interview with ESPN.
"It's very different than mine," Lester told the network, which aired the interview Sunday before Boston's first trip of the season to Lester's native Seattle area.
"His is slow growing," Lester said of his father, John, who also has lymphoma. "His is something that he's going to die with, not die from. He's doing really well."
Lester (3-3), who threw a no-hitter against Kansas City in his previous start, lost a 6-3 decision to host Oakland on Sunday, yielding 7 hits, 4 runs and a pair of walks over 5 innings.
Lester planned to see his father Sunday night for the first time since the diagnosis. He carried a Red Sox World Series hat with him as a gift.
"Even my dad said, 'Well, now I look up to you,' " said Lester. "After the no-hitter, a lot of different media people called him, and he was very, very frustrated he couldn't tell them why he was so proud of me. Now he's telling everybody, and he wanted me to tell people."
Twins 6, Tigers 1: Jason Kubel hit a tiebreaking grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning and Glen Perkins shut down Detroit's offense as visiting Minnesota took two of three in the series.
Rangers 2, Indians 1 (10): Right fielder Ben Francisco misplayed a simple single into a costly error in the 10th inning, enabling Jarrod Saltalamacchia to score from first base with the winning run for the visiting Rangers.
Yankees 6, Mariners 5: Jose Molina hit a two-out RBI double to cap a 4-run eighth inning, and host New York rallied for a fifth straight victory.
Blue Jays 3, Royals 1: Shannon Stewart drove in the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice, Dustin McGowan won for the first time in 4 starts and Toronto beat visiting Kansas City.
Rays 5, Orioles 4: Rookie third baseman Evan Longoria drove in the winning run with a double in the ninth inning, and Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep over Baltimore in St. Petersburg, Fla.
National League
Padres 12, Reds 9 (18): The lights were on and the sun was going down when Adrian Gonzalez hit a 3-run homer with two outs in the 18th inning to give San Diego a win over visiting Cincinnati.
It was the fourth time the Padres played at least 13 innings this season. They played a 22-inning game at home against Colorado on April 17-18, losing 2-1.
The game lasted 5 hours, 57 minutes. It was the third-longest game in Reds history.
The Padres struck out 19 times, giving them 58 in the four-game series.
The Reds used three starting pitchers in extra innings.
Rockies 4, Mets 1: John Maine was on the mound facing essentially a Triple-A lineup. It appeared to be the perfect pick-me-up for embattled New York manager Willie Randolph amid speculation his job is in jeopardy.
Aaron Cook and Seth Smith would have none of it as host Colorado beat the Mets when Smith hit his first major-league homer, a 3-run shot to back an impressive start by Cook (7-3).
Nationals 7, Brewers 6: Elijah Dukes scored on Guillermo Mota's ninth-inning wild pitch to lead host Washington past Milwaukee.
Phillies 15, Astros 6: Chase Utley and Shane Victorino drove in 3 runs apiece and visiting Philadelphia hammered Houston.
Diamondbacks 9, Braves 3: Eric Byrnes hit his first career grand slam off the top of the left-field wall, and Chris Young's homer also skipped over the fence as visiting Arizona topped Atlanta.
Giants 6-4, Marlins 8-5: Dan Uggla hit a bases-loaded, two-out single in the ninth to help Florida sweep a doubleheader against visiting San Francisco. Uggla hit 1 of 4 homers by the Marlins to snap the Giants' three-game winning streak in the opener.
Dodgers 4, Cardinals 3 (10): Andre Ethier singled home the winning run in the 10th inning, and Luis Maza hit his first big-league homer to lead Los Angeles past visiting St. Louis.