BOSTON -- Shortstop Julio Lugo was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a severely strained left quad on Saturday, one day after sustaining the injury while beating out a single in the ninth inning of a 7-3 loss to the Orioles.

The Red Sox called up shortstop Jed Lowrie from Triple-A Pawtucket, and he started Saturday night's game against Baltimore. Lowrie and Alex Cora will share duties at shortstop while Lugo is on the DL.

Lugo, who underwent an MRI on Saturday and will be re-evaluated, will likely miss four to six weeks.

"He got it pretty good," manager Terry Francona said.

By definition, a severe strain means there is a tear in the muscle. Lugo was told after Friday's game just how damaging the injury is.

"I heard the pop yesterday," Lugo said. "And it swelled up right away and was bruised. Yesterday, the doctor told me, 'You've got a tear there.' I didn't want to believe him, but he was right."

Lugo is batting .268 this season, with one homer and 12 stolen bases.

Teammate David Ortiz understands exactly what Lugo is going through, as he's been on the DL since May 31 with a partially torn sheath tendon in his left wrist.

"It's hard to see," Ortiz said. "I know [our teammates] felt the same way when I went down. It's not the right thing to see. But, you know, things happen. An injury isn't something you can control."

Ortiz said that Lugo is always preparing and taking care of himself, which makes it harder to take when such injuries as these occur.

"Nobody works harder than that guy," Ortiz said. "[He's] always doing exercises and everything, and look what happened to him. He gets prepared to run every day. I always get on him, because he always looks like he's overdoing things. But he says, 'I've always got to do it, because that's me.' And look what happened."

Still, Lugo will hit the DL at a time when he was beginning to feel more comfortable with the Red Sox than he had in his entire stint in Boston.

"It took me probably a year and a half to start feeling comfortable," he said. "So when something like this happens, it's disappointing."