Pedroia will get his chances

Airborne Dustin Pedroia couldn't come up with this shot up the middle by the A's Travis Buck during the second inning. (JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF)

Terry Francona said he didn't think twice about who should play second base last night for the Red Sox. He thought about it 10 times.

In the end, he decided to go with rookie Dustin Pedroia, though not before placing a call to Alex Cora, who began the night batting a team-high .360 and had homered in two of his last four games after hitting just one in his previous 130.

"It's one of those days, coming off the New York series, facing a righty, I can see where [Cora] would say, 'I might be in there today,' " Francona said. "And there's a pretty good chance he'll be in there tomorrow. I just wanted him to understand we're kind of in this for the long haul, and I do respect what he's doing, I really do.

"But I think part of my responsibility is to help this other kid get going, but playing AC, that's part of the responsibility, too, playing him enough so he can help us. I think we've done that, but the more he hits, certainly the more we want to get him in there.

"We always talk about all the other things he does right, and when he starts hitting the ball out of the ballpark, yeah, you want to find a place to get him in there."

Francona rejected the idea of a platoon, saying, "We don't want to pigeonhole a young kid after 45-50 at-bats."

Pedroia went 0 for 3 to drop his average to .172, making him 5 for 48 (.104) in his last 17 games. Cora hit for Pedroia in the ninth with a man on second and one out, but was intentionally walked by Justin Duchscherer.

Francona was asked if the decision to play Pedroia was his or an organizational call. "That's my decision," he said, "but we're trying to have a little broader view than just today. Me and Theo [ Epstein] have had this conversation enough. My responsibility is to try to do what's right. This kid is having a tough enough time right now. I don't want to add to it."

Francona acknowledged that he often speaks of playing to win today, and was asked if that complicated the decision.

"I know I spent a lot of time yesterday thinking about right and wrong," he said. "That's why I ended up calling Alex. I thought, if I'm thinking about this that much, he might be, too.

"But again, we have a need. We want to help this kid out. Going with the hot hand is the easy thing to do and I'm not sure it's the right thing to do, 50 at-bats into this kid's [first] major league season."

Lefthander Jon Lester makes his final rehab start tonight for Pawtucket. While Francona said Lester will not be on the kind of pitch-count restraints he was in earlier starts, he strongly implied Lester probably would be optioned to Pawtucket. "For what it's worth, our No. 1 responsibility is to Lester and his long-term health," Francona said. "You can kind of read into that whatever you want. I tried to slow you guys down, but I don't think I was very successful." Lester's stay in Pawtucket is not expected to be a long one, but it may take maneuvering to create a roster spot in Boston. "I'm confident Theo will do the right thing," said Lester's agent, Alan Nero. "After speaking to him, it's not a matter of if [he'll come up], it's a matter of when. If he has to stay and make a few starts at Triple A, he'll do that. When that time comes will obviously depend on a lot of things involving the roster that Theo will have to deal with. It's my expectation Jon will be up there and he'll continue to pitch well and prove to them that he's ready to go up there."

Right fielder J.D. Drew was originally in the lineup but was scratched for what were described by the club as viral symptoms. Drew was hitless in his last 11 at-bats and had just one hit in his last 21. In his last eight games, he is 4 for 31 (.129), his average dropping from .375 to .278. Francona shuffled the lineup, moving Coco Crisp from eighth to second, dropping Kevin Youkilis from second to fifth, and playing Eric Hinske in right, batting eighth . . . Portland righthander Clay Buchholz had a perfect game through six innings against Bowie last night. Paco Figueroa led off the seventh with a single but was erased attempting to steal. That was the only base runner allowed by Buchholz, who was lifted after the seventh in Portland's 4-1 win. Jacoby Ellsbury (batting .465) was a scratch yesterday with a viral infection.

Curt Schilling pitched last night with "For Pete's Sake" scrawled on his shoe. The slogan, Schilling said, came from a young cancer patient, Pete Despain, with whom he has been corresponding in St. Louis. Despain was undergoing chemotherapy yesterday . . . Hideki Okajima, with a scoreless eighth, has not allowed a run in 13 innings over 13 outings. He has allowed only three hits in that span, while striking out 16 . . . Manny Ramírez recorded his 1,000th hit as a member of the Sox when he singled in the eighth off former Sox lefty Alan Embree. He is the 26th player to have 1,000 hits with the Sox, and the 14th to have 1,000 hits with two teams . . . Brendan Donnelly, who took the loss, had won nine straight decisions dating to Aug. 12, 2005 . . . Crisp has hit in seven straight games, batting .393 in that span (11 for 28). He has improved his average from .111 to a season-high .236 . . . Athletics third baseman Eric Chavez took a hit away from the struggling Pedroia by fielding his smash in the fourth and throwing him out . . . The A's placed outfielder Bobby Kielty on the disabled list with a strained left calf and recalled catcher Adam Melhuse from Triple A Sacramento.

From Bill Wanless, crack PR man for Pawtucket: For the first time in 18 years, the PawSox went through the month of April without having a player on their Opening Day roster called up to Boston (not counting rehabbing reliever Mike Timlin). The last time that happened was in 1989, when the Red Sox did not call up a player until May 24 (pitcher Eric Hetzel) . . . After Atlanta traded Ryan Langerhans to the Athletics -- who are so short on outfielders they started Langerhans in center last night despite his .069 average (3 for 44) -- the Braves promoted ex-Sox reserve Willie Harris.

Nick Cafardo of the Globe staff contributed to this report.