While the focus is on Jonathan Papelbon's second straight blown save, in Friday night's 7-6 loss to the Twins, the fact remains that shortstop Julio Lugo again contributed a costly error.

The last time, against the Tigers, Lugo's error came in the ninth, so it was a highlight in the loss.

On Friday, Lugo's error came in the second inning. It would have been the third out of the inning. Instead, two runs eventually scored.

That's 11 errors for Lugo. Last year, Lugo struggled at the plate. The Red Sox lineup could absorb that. But it is hard to hide Lugo when he's making errors that cost the Red Sox games.

The Red Sox will keeping runinng Lugo out there, no doubt, especially this early in the season. He may get more bench time with Alex Cora coming back.

But if Lugo keeps costing Boston games in September and beyond, I don't think the Red Sox would hesitate bench him.

Not much to report in the minors. Pawtucket was rained out and Portland got handcuffed by Bowie pitching. The most notable happening in Portland was the ankle sprain suffered by Bubba Bell (see previous blog).

In Lancaster, starter Chris Jones had a horrible outing (4 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 1 BB, 3 K) and his ERA shot up to 6.54 ... tihrd baseman Jorge Jimenez went 3-for-4 to bolster his average to .364.

In Geenville, starter Chris Province improved to 3-0 (6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K), with an ERA of 2.41 ... Luis Expostio, a catcher/DH, went 2-for-4 and is batting .316.

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