PAWTUCKET - Hot streaks come and go. Peaks and valleys will always be there. It's the players who can play through it all who usually come out ahead.

Case in point: The Pawtucket Red Sox' Brandon Moss. He has made a slow transition from Double-A Portland, where he dominated last season, helping the Sea Dogs to the Eastern League championship and earning MVP accolades. He struggled early this season with his new team but his play has steadily improved.

In fact, the 23-year-old outfielder has had a tendency to end the season strong during his six years as a pro. The trend seems to be continuing in Pawtucket. As the weather is warming up, so is Moss.

Yesterday he provided a three-run home run for the PawSox in the third inning, his 12th round-tripper of the season, to help Pawtucket to a 6-3 victory over the Ottawa Lynx. Ironically, he has just as many home runs as the Lynx have as a team.

He deposited a 2-1 offering from Ottawa starter Eude Brito into the right-field party area, just another indication he's finding his form. Moss has hit safely in six of his last seven games, and in his last 21 games he is 30-for-80 (.375) with five homers and 18 RBI.

"He's done a great job," said Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson. "He's had so many big hits for us over the last week or so, and he's a big reason why we've won some games here recently."

Can't win them all

A pitcher can't be good all season long. Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester found that out on Saturday night during his seventh rehab start for the PawSox, during which he allowed three runs on five hits in only 262/3 innings of work. The left-hander was scheduled to throw 100 pitches or work seven innings, but he made it to only 70 pitches (42 for strikes).

After the outing, neither he nor Johnson was too concerned. It was only a season ago when the rookie southpaw jumped out to a 5-0 start in Boston. He finished with a 7-2 record and 4.76 ERA but it ended prematurely when he was diagnosed with a treatable form of anaplastic large-cell lymphoma in August. He underwent treatment during the offseason and has been on a minor-league rehab assignment this season.

Even so, Lester feels he's a better pitcher this year than he was at this time last season.

"I think I'm better than I was last year at any time," he said. "From Feb. 1 until I was put on the disabled list, nothing felt right. Nothing felt like it clicked; it felt like a struggle. This year I feel real good. My command, up until (Saturday) night, has been good, walks have been down and pitch counts have been down."

Lester is slated to work again on Friday for the PawSox against Richmond at McCoy. Again, he's scheduled to throw either 100 pitches or seven innings.

Just in case

Johnson mixed up his outfield a bit yesterday. Jacoby Ellsbury, a center fielder by trade, played left for the first time. David Murphy, also a center fielder, had been playing left since Ellsbury was recalled from Double-A early last month. Murphy was back in center yesterday and Ellsbury was shifted to the corner position. Moss remained in right field.

Johnson said he's going to start moving guys around in the outfield in order for all three players to get used to the different positions just in case Boston summons help from Pawtucket.

"If they get called to the big leagues, Tito [Boston manager Terry Francona] might put them anywhere," Johnson said. "So we're going to make sure they get the exposure out there."

The Red Sox sent their minor-league outfield coordinator, Lou Frazier, to Pawtucket for a couple of days to work with the threesome. The shift didn't seem to bother Ellsbury, especially at the plate where he went 2-for-4 with one RBI and two stolen bases. Ellsbury now has 15 steals this season in just 32 games. In 50 games for the Sea Dogs last season, he swiped 16.

Bat for the Cure

Ed Randall, president and founder of Bat for the Cure, kicked-off his national campaign to strike out prostate cancer yesterday at McCoy Stadium. He will travel to different ballparks this summer to educate people about the disease and to raise awareness. For information, go to erbatforthecure.org.