Cramp puts a crimp in Lester's latest tuneup

"It just came on in the third inning," said Lester. "Threw a pitch and it kind of tightened up. It's one of those freak things that happened. I've never had it before. Hopefully, it goes away and everything will be fine."

For Lester, it came at a bad time. He wanted this outing to go smoothly. And everyone wanted it for him.

"I don't know anything," said Lester, when asked what's next for him. "You guys probably know more than I do. I'll find out one of these days what the deal is going to be, and obviously, this doesn't help my situation. It wouldn't hurt [to make another start here], but just like everyone else in that clubhouse, they want to be in Boston. We'll see what Theo [Epstein] and Tito [Francona] decide to do. I just have to agree with that and go from there."

The Sox have been trying to temper expectations of Lester, who will likely be optioned to Pawtucket by tomorrow at midnight, when his 30-day rehabilitation stint ends.

Lester, 23, dominated the Pirates' Triple A affiliate at the start, striking out leadoff batter Nyjer Morgan by employing crisp fastballs that were clocked at 91-93 miles per hour. But he mostly labored after that, walking three. He had a 1-2-3 second inning in which he threw 12 pitches, but he threw 25 in the first and 26 in the third.

He got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the third when he struck out Jose Hernandez looking and got Russ Johnson to ground into a force at second base.

"I felt good," Lester said. "Early on, I was throwing the ball well. Probably threw too many fastballs. Didn't use my offspeed pitches enough. I left a cutter up and away to Hernandez [who stroked an opposite-field double to right, driving in the second run in the first inning]. It was probably going to be one of those nights where I had to battle through it."

During the third inning, pitching coach Mike Griffin visited the mound and had a chat with the lefthander. Lester then retired the final two hitters after walking two.