Beckett was examined by the team's medical staff, but the severity of the injury was unknown. Nor was it known when Beckett might take the mound again.
"Rather than pitch a game today, when he could do some further damage, we took him out," Francona said. "He'll be examined thoroughly, as he was today, and probably more importantly tomorrow. See how he shows up, see how he feels."
Beckett did not speak with the media but relayed a message through director of media relations John Blake, saying, "We'll just have to wait and see how it feels tomorrow."
He was replaced by Manny Delcarmen, who threw two scoreless innings in a 5-2 Boston loss that left a packed City of Palms Park wondering why Beckett had left.
Opinions differed as to whether the injury was a result of the trouble with the mound, or whether Beckett had been fighting a sore lower back the last week. Francona said back soreness "happens to probably half our camp," mentioning that the team had tried to keep Beckett out of his spikes as much as possible the last week to lessen pressure on his back.
But when asked about Beckett having prior back problems, Farrell said, "No, not that I'm aware of."
A simulated game for minor leaguers had begun at 9:30 a.m., then the grounds crew prepared the mound for the major league game.
"This field got a lot of play today, but we've been fighting the consistencies of the mounds in the bullpen and here, and that's not to blame anybody," Francona said. "Gets a lot of use. We beat them up, try to get them to be the same, and today was a hard day to do that because of our playing a game at 9 o'clock this morning."
Added Farrell, "Whether there was appropriate time needed or taken to prepare the mound, bottom line, the texture, the content, was a little bit different than what the bullpen mound has."
Second baseman Dustin Pedroia said he could tell Beckett had aggravated something.
