12:24 AM Wed, Apr 29, 2009 | Permalink
Kevin McNamara  Email
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CLEVELAND - Julio Lugo enjoyed a very eventful return to the Red Sox lineup on Tuesday night at Progressive Field.
Lugo replaced Nick Green as the starter at shortstop for the Sox and quickly found himself in the middle of a lot of the action in a 9-8 Cleveland victory.
Lugo stroked two hits in three at-bats with a walk and an RBI. The RBI came in the seventh inning, when a sharp single to right field scored Jason Bay with the go-ahead run in an 8-7 game. That promised to be the winning run in a back-and-forth game, but the Indians came back to tie the score in the bottom of the seventh and then win in the ninth on an error by pitcher Javier Lopez.
"I felt a little nervous, some butterflies. I haven't played in such a long time," said Lugo, who made his season debut and played in his first Red Sox game since July 11. "It was exciting to get back."
Lugo was also in the heat of the action in the field. He bobbled a throw for an error in the third inning and also found himself in the middle of a short fly to the outfield in the fifth inning. Although he was running out on the ball and center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was charging in and had a read on the play, Lugo hung in and the ball bounced off Ellsbury. Mark DeRosa was credited with a double on the play.
The four-hour, 19-minute game was not what Lugo's knee needed. The game was played in raw, wet 40-degree weather and by the sixth inning, Lugo said his knee was sore.
"It stiffened up in the sixth inning," he said. "We played such a long game and it just got tired, but I feel fine."
Green replaced Lugo in the eighth inning. Manager Terry Francona said he wasn't sure who would be starting in the third game of the series on Wednesday.
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Can we just cut our losses and get rid of Lugo? Instant bad karma!
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Lugo should have never started that game last night. The throw in the third inning to him from Youkilis wasn't bobbled as reported in this story. Lugo completely missed the perfect throw allowing the Indians to escape a potential double play. As a result, the inning continued and Penny gave up a game tying Grand Slam. Thanks Julio. I vote for Green to play tonight!!
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