But after the lefty threw just 25 pitches in the first two innings, both scoreless, there were visions that he might become an unexpected source of outs for a rotation that has provided next to nothing in that department this month.
Then came a third inning that will be remembered if and when the Sox' collapse ever becomes finalized.
With the assistance of a massive error by Josh Reddick on a liner to right that should've been the third out, Bedard was forced to throw 51 pitches in the frame. His 51st was a two-run single to left that gave the Orioles, who entered the inning down 1-0, a 4-1 lead.
"Long," Bedard said when asked to describe the frame.
It could've been quicker. He got the first out on a weak pop to first and got ahead of Robert Andino 0-2. However, Andino would fight Bedard for 11 more pitches, the last of which resulted in a base hit. One out later, Nick Markakis ripped an RBI double before perhaps the biggest play of the night and one that indirectly led to a bullpen collapse in the eighth, for it made Bedard work much more than he needed to.
Vladimir Guerrero lined a shot right at Reddick, but the young outfielder came in a step or two when he should've stayed put. At the last moment, he leaped but couldn't come up with the ball. One run scored and Bedard, forced to continue what was already a lengthy frame, walked two straight before the two-run single by Mark Reynolds.
Reddick was actually fortunate it didn't fly over him and roll all the way to the ball, but he knows that his miscue was mammoth.
"Worst feeling ever knowing that you made your starting pitcher work a lot harder than he should have and a ball that should have been caught to end the inning, and especially losing the lead like we did," Reddick said. "No worse feeling and then with the pitching change we made, you have to stand out there and deal with the fact that you didn't help at all. Somewhere you don't want to be."
Manager Terry Francona talked about how Reddick didn't play the ball in a fundamentally sound manner. That speaks to team-wide issues for Boston, which has committed seven errors in the last four games to go along with wild pitches, passed balls and other mistakes that have flawed a team that played pretty crisp baseball earlier in the year.
Still, Bedard, whether rusty or not, was unable to pick up the pieces and for the 13th time in 20 games this month a Red Sox starter failed to go longer than five innings.
"You do the best you can," he said of trying to overcome the mistake. "It happens. People make errors. It's just part of the game. You try to limit the damage. As a pitcher that's all you're thinking of."
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Bedard couldn't, and Boston's fears of a short start became realized.
