BOSTON -- The last thing Julio Lugo wants to do is start baseball's version of a Holy War in Boston, so he's keeping his displeasure of not starting to himself.

He does feel, however, he's being criticized unfairly by fans, and by the media, for subpar performances.

Case in point: There were two plays on Friday night against the Rangers that appeared to be routine plays which he did not make, including a grounder in the fifth inning that eventually led to the Rangers' Ian Kinsler's three-run homer off Red Sox starter Brad Penny in a 5-1 loss.

"It wasn't like the ball went through my legs. They were two diving plays," Lugo said Saturday afternoon.

Lugo doesn't believe the criticism he's receiving is fair.

In 2007, his first with the Red Sox, the $9 million-a-year-man hit .237 with 73 RBI and made 19 errors in 147 games. What has changed since then?

"I feel better this year physically and mentally," he said. "And I'm hitting."

This season he's hitting .256 (82 at-bats) with one homer, four RBI and four errors in 26 games.

With Jed Lowrie still rehabbing from wrist surgery, Nick Green has been getting the nod at short. Entering Saturday's game, Green was hitting .288 (111 at-bats) with one homer and 17 RBI in 38 games. He has nine errors.

So far Lugo has taken the high road and doesn't like to discuss the situation. He makes no bones about the fact that he wants to be the everyday shortstop. At the start of spring training he also said if he wasn't going to be starting, he would ask for a trade. But he suffered a knee injury and needed surgery to repair the damage, leaving the decision to start Lowrie an easy one.

On Saturday, Lugo said everything was good.

"I love Boston," he said.

Manager Terry Francona was asked about his decision the last couple of games to insert Green into the starting lineup instead of Lugo.

"The last thing I'm ever going to do is pick a player's game apart publicly because it doesn't help us," Francona said.

The manager also stated the lines of communication with Lugo have been open and honest.

"It's very important to him. I don't think the communication is bad. I don't think he always likes what I tell him," said Francona. "That's probably the best way I can put it. We're all trying to do our job the best we can. Because you see something as a manager or coach, doesn't mean you look down on someone as a person, we're just trying to win as many games as we can."

With Green, a non-roster invitee to spring training, in the lineup the Red Sox were 22-9 prior to Saturday night.

"The majority of the games he's played we won," said Francona. "That's been huge."

Boston is 10-12 with Lugo in lineup.

"We trying to recognize where are we and how can we get better with every player," added Francona. "I think there are times where we probably have a different opinion of where he is. I don't doubt that. Players, I don't know if it's ever fair to ask them self-evaluate because that's our job. They're out there trying to win. On the flip side, we do what we think is right. . . They don't always have to agree."

With Lowrie injured, Lugo struggling and Green filling in, the Red Sox very recently showed strong interest in acquiring veteran shortstop John McDonald from the Toronto Blue Jays. The deal for the former Providence College standout never happened, and doesn't appear to have legs now, due to the Jays' asking price.

For now, it appears the Red Sox are willing to wait for Lowrie to be healthy.

"I don't know what I envision, to be honest with you," said Francona. "We're trying to win, we're tying to balance now and down the road. . . We don't have all the right answers all the time. But we'll try to do the best we can to get the right answers."

jmcdonal@projo.com