Projo Sox Blog

BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- There should be an orange construction sign at shortstop that reads: "Work in Progress."

Because that's exactly what's going on with Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo right now as he attempts to return to form after having knee surgery during spring training.

It's clear to manager Terry Francona, as it was to the 37,773 in attendance Saturday at Fenway Park, that Lugo's range in the field is suffering. There were a couple of ground balls to the left side that seemed routine, but he was able to get to them in the Rays' six-run fifth inning.

"I feel good. My knee is fine now," he said. "I'm trying to do my best and that's what I'm doing right now."

With one out and the bases loaded in the inning, the Rays' Akinori Iwamura hit a chopper just to the left of the mound. Lugo waited for the ball, took a couple of slide steps and tagged second base for the second out of the inning without attempting to turn a double play, allowing a run to score.

"You've got to wait for the ball to come to you. If I go get that ball, they both would have been safe," said Lugo. "If I try to go one-handed and the ball goes into center field, two runs would score. You have to take the sure out. I got the ball and stepped on the bag. You have to make sure of at least one out."

Francona said after the Sox' 14-5 loss to the Rays that Lugo will not play in the series finale on Sunday night. He has started six games at shortstop since returning.
"We're tying to balance winning and getting Julio back, some of his athleticism back. . . We're doing the best we can."

Francona seems to be showing Lugo his patience at this point.

"As far as the instant results, I don't now if we thought that would happen," Francona said. "I don't know if there's a button to push. We're pretty open talking about it and we're walking a fine line - we understand that. We don't always have the right answers, but we try to have good answers. He's been working really well. We're doing the best we can."

Lugo is thankful his manager is being patient.

"When you come back from surgery there's nothing you can do better than to give it time to heal," said Lugo. "It's healed on the outside, but maybe it's not 100 percent on the inside. [Francona] understands. He knows how it is when players are coming back from injuries."

On the offensive side of things, Lugo provided his first homer of the season and first since June 20, 2008 against St. Louis. In the last two games he's recorded five hits.

"It feels good. I'm getting back in the swing of things and hit my first home run in a while," he said. "It feels good to do something good. I feel good at the plate already."

 Tags  Julio Lugo Red Sox Terry Francona

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