Projo Sox Blog

Javier Lopez, the side-arming left-hander who tends to have appearances that last only one or two batters, worked a career-long three innings Friday night with the Red Sox losing by a large margin.

It was the longest outing of Lopez's four-year big-league career. He said he had thrown three innings for Pawtucket in a game in Buffalo last year, and had done it another time in the minors in 2005.

"I'm a little sore," said Lopez.

Lopez, aware of the circumstances of the game, was not surprised that manager Terry Francona kept him in for three innings in a game that had long since been decided.

"I was pretty pitch-efficient (37) so I think that's why he kept me in there and it saved the other guys in the bullpen because we've been getting a lot of work lately," said Lopez. "It's something they told me I'd be doing, getting anywhere from one out to five outs. They didn't talk about nine, but that was fine. We saved some other guys so that's a positive."

-- Steven Krasner

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