LOS ANGELES -- Bartolo Colon is not yet ready to help the Red Sox, as evidenced by the fact that the next time he pitches, it will be for Pawtucket and not Boston.

But if Friday night is any indication, Colon's return to the major leagues may not be far off.

Opening the Red Sox' weekend's worth of exhibition games here, Colon pitched four innings and gave up just one run on three hits in a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

He walked just one while striking out four and consistently threw his fastball in the low 90s.

"I think we're all pleased ... and he is, too,'' said Terry Francona of Colon, who declined to speak with reporters after the outing. "He commanded both sides of the plate and his breaking ball had some depth to it. I think the more he gets into shape, the better he's able to throw the ball down in the [strike] zone.''

"Compared to his Florida [spring training] starts,'' added pitching coach John Farrell, "he threw the ball down in the zone more consistently, which is what he needs to do. There are indications that he's getting into better shape. He's able to hold his stamina.''

Colon will start the season opener for Pawtucket on Thursday, when the Sox hope to increase his pitch count to 75 or so. He threw 60 pitches last night, 36 of which were strikes.

"Ideally,'' said Farrell, "we'd like to see all our starters get stretched out to 80-100 pitches. That's kind of the framework.''

Colon will remain with the team for a few more days and will throw his side session either Sunday or Monday before heading back East in time for the McCoy Stadium opener.

The Dodgers pushed across two runs off minor-league reliever Lincoln Holdzkom in the bottom of the eighth to snap a 1-1 tie.

Massachusetts native Mark Sweeney laced a double into left-center for the go-ahead run and James Loney then added a bloop single to right to score the second run.

Following Colon's outing, Julian Tavarez added three shutout innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out one over 54 pitches.

The Sox collected just three hits on the night and none until the fifth inning. Jacoby Ellsbury and Julio Lugo singled in the fifth, with Ellsbury scoring on a fielder's choice by Dustin Pedroia.

The only other Boston hit came from Sean Casey, who singled in the sixth.