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October 2, 2007
BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- In a surprise move, Tim Wakefield was a last-minute roster casualty for the ALDS, with Jon Lester taking his spot.
''Up until just a little bit ago,'' said manager Terry Francona this afternoon, ''Wakefield was on our roster. (But) he had a cortisone shot (in the back). In his role with us now, if something unfortunate ever happened to a starter, Wake would be asked to come in and fill something like that in the game. And he's not ready to do that. He's been fighting it for a long time and it's not fair to Wake.
''Because of our feelings for Wake and some of the respect that's there, we wanted to give him a chance to pitch on our roster, in the series. (But) it was putting the team in a very difficult spot, which he understood . . . He bleeds for us, but he understands it's the right thing to do. We were going to possibily put him in a situation that was not fair to him or the team. Doing this, we can slow him down and not rush him into two or three innings in a game where he's not ready and get him ready for a start, hopefully later on.''
Lester, who was to be excluded, will now serve as the long man out of the bullpen, giving the Sox three lefty relievers, to go along with Hideki Okajima and Javier Lopez.
''If we get into extra-inning games,'' said Francona, ''you can use your other relievers, knowing you have a guy that can go multiple innings behind those guys.''
Lester was used in relief Sunday, pitching out of the bullpen for the first time this season.
Neither Lester nor Wakefield was available for comment.
Posted by Sean McAdam 
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