"Expectations will likely be through the roof when Erik Bedard makes his Red Sox debut tomorrow night in the series finale against the Cleveland Indians.

The Sox, however, have the yellow caution flag out.

The team is preaching patience because Clay Buchholz' replacement is simply not far enough removed from a knee injury that forced him to miss a month of action this season. It may take a couple of starts before everyone sees the pitcher everyone wants to see.

"We want to help get him to where he can pitch like he can pitch and it might take a little while to do that," manager Terry Francona said before last night's 3-2 win. "He's got 12/3 starting innings under his belt, he's got no rehab starts, so he might not be at peak efficiency yet. Fans and media might not be patient with him, but we will be.

"With Erik, we understand with him we have to be a little bit slow here. He pitched a game probably for obvious reasons probably before he was ready to pitch. He should have probably been on a rehab. We all understand why and we're glad he did."

Bedard seemed excited enough to be pitching in meaningful games.

"This is a great opportunity — I went from last place to first place in a heartbeat," said Bedard. "It's fun. I'm just going to come here and do the best I can. Try to win ball games and help the team win."

Bedard said he had no concerns about his health."