Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester expressed his concern over the safety of maple bats after a broken bat came close to seriously hurting shortstop Nick Green. "It's scary to see a bat go flying that far," Lester said. "I thought they did some research this offseason to try to figure that stuff out, but obviously we've still got a long ways to go. You've got to take cover. It's a tough play to make when you've got a bat head flying at you looking to take your head off." The ball and a sharp fragment of Elijah Dukes' bat came flying at Green simultaneously on Wednesday night. The shortstop deflected the bat with his forearm as the ball rolled between his legs. Green was unharmed. "I didn't see the bat until it bounced right in front of me," Green said. "I saw it bouncing and I put my arm to try to get it out of the way, and the ball went right between my legs. It was unfortunate because it was a double-play ball."