Lefty getting things right

Lopez has been great lately in pen

NEW YORK - With Hideki Okajima struggling, sidearming Javier Lopez has become the most trusted lefthanded reliever in the Red Sox bullpen, one season after he was a regular on the Boston-Pawtucket shuttle.

Lopez has allowed just one earned run in his last 15 outings (15 2/3 innings). You can go back even further - in his last 28 appearances, he has allowed just three earned runs in 25 innings, an ERA of 1.08. His ERA of 2.10 ranks in the top five among AL relievers with 30 innings or more.

Lopez still has too many walks - 14 in 34 1/3 innings - but many of those came early. He's walked just three in his last 11 appearances.

He also has been much more effective against lefthanded hitters this season. In 2007, lefthanded batters hit .293 against Lopez, who also walked eight lefties in 93 plate appearances, while righthanded batters hit just .176 (10 walks in 81 plate appearances).

This season, righthanders are batting .274 (17 for 62), while lefties are batting just .213 (13 for 61), though the walks are high (10 in 73 plate appearances).

In Friday's 6-4 win, Lopez faced one batter, the lefthanded-hitting Robinson Cano, and with one pitch ended the eighth inning, Cano rolling into a double play.

"We got in a situation in the game where we sent Manny Delcarmen back out [after an 88-minute rain delay] because we think he's our best strike-thrower," manager Terry Francona said.

"We had Javy ready for Cano just so we could bridge a little time for [Jonathan Papelbon]. I know Pap was well-rested, but you start getting into five, six outs, that's a lot to ask. [Friday], three outs were tough. Javy comes in, throws one pitch, and gets two outs, right when you don't want an inning to start to get noisy and loud and have runners on. That was a useful, successful [outing]. That's what he's there for."

Last season, Lopez had options left, so he found himself going back and forth.

Okajima's ineffectiveness underscores the likelihood the Sox will be seeking bullpen help at the trading deadline - general manager Theo Epstein dealt for Eric Gagné last July when Okajima was virtually unhittable - but Lopez is likely to get used more frequently in pressure situations.

In yesterday's 2-1 loss, he was summoned to start the seventh with the Sox trailing, 2-0. He faced the heart of the Yankee order. Bobby Abreu, a lefthanded hitter, rolled out. Righty Alex Rodriguez walked on a full count after fouling off several tough pitches. Lefty slugger Jason Giambi flied to left, and Wilson Betemit, a switch hitter batting righthanded, struck out.

"When we're able to use him in those situations where he's able to get big lefthanded hitters out, all of a sudden our bullpen looks vastly different," Francona said. "There have been times he's not commanded well enough to put him in those situations. There have been times where he's gotten righthanded hitters out better than lefties, which I think is a testament to his work ethic. He doesn't want to be just a one-hitter-and-done pitcher.

"Because of his deception, it makes him an interesting guy."

Lopez spoke after Friday's win about the need to attack the strike zone, and the feeling that he has been more successful in doing so.

"I'm glad to hear him saying that," Francona said. "If you're going to go down, go down with your best stuff. A guy with deception in his arsenal, when he works ahead, he's going to be more successful."

The four hit by pitches for Boston batters tied the club record accomplished three times previously, last on May 24, 1998 vs. New York . . . The three hit by pitches for Manny Ramírez tied a major league record. Elias Sports Bureau has researched back to 1950 and has not found a Red Sox player who was hit by three pitches in a game. Chase Utley of the Phillies was hit three times by Mets pitchers April 8, the only other player to be hit thrice this season . . . The last three spots in the order combined to go 0 for 12. Coco Crisp went 0 for 4 and whiffed twice, Jason Varitek went 0 for 4, whiffed twice, and popped out with bases loaded. Alex Cora grounded out and popped to the pitcher. Sean Casey flied out as a pinch hitter in the eighth, his first at-bat since June 28 (he hasn't had a hit since June 18), and Julio Lugo, who replaced Cora at short in the eighth, whiffed to end it . . . Clay Buchholz had his worst outing since he was optioned to Pawtucket, giving up six hits and five runs over five innings in Pawtucket's 5-2 home loss to Lehigh Valley last night. Buchholz threw 88 pitches, walking two and striking out five.

Francona, who has been working closely with MLB vice president Phyllis Merhige in filling out the roster of the American League All-Star team, called the process "agonizing. But we owe it to the players to be agonizing." . . . Bartolo Colon is long-tossing from 120 feet, Francona said, and he anticipates Colon throwing from the mound soon after the team returns home Monday night to face the Twins . . . Francona said that while David Ortiz is experiencing some discomfort in his wrist, none of it has been unexpected by the team's medical staff. "I think things are going according to plan," he said, "and we're pretty upbeat about most of it."

Gordon Edes can be reached at edes@globe.com.