After several discussions with pitching coach Dave Wallace, Francona's ultimate conclusion was to stack things up in a way that veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield won't pitch at Coors Field, where the Sox play a three-game series June 15-17.

This means that following Wakefield's outing Friday night against the Royals, his next start won't be until June 12 against the Dodgers.

Fifth starter Bronson Arroyo will take Wakefield's customary spot behind ace Pedro Martinez for Wednesday's game against the Padres. Wakefield will back Arroyo up out of the bullpen that night so he can stay fresh for his Fenway start vs. the Dodgers.

Instead of pitching against the Rockies, Wakefield will open Boston's three-game series at San Francisco on June 18.

Through extensive research, Francona and Wallace found that pitching a knuckleballer at Coors Field was a bad idea. The thin air is known to flatten pitches and make flyballs travel further than usual. Wakefield is a flyball pitcher.

"You don't want to tell Wake he can't go in there and have success because he might," Francona said. "But you also have to make judgments we think are in our club's best interest. I just think this is probably the right thing to do. I don't think he was terribly thrilled with it, but I also think he understands we're trying to do the right thing for the ballclub."

This is the second time Wakefield has been moved from his usual slot. The first time was following the April 27 rainout against Tampa Bay. In that instance, Wakefield volunteered to skip a spot in the rotation so he could benefit the rest of the staff.

Wakefield has never pitched at Coors Field.

Arroyo, Curt Schilling and Derek Lowe are penciled in to pitch the games at Colorado.