Before taking the mound Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Erik Bedard reportedly was served legal papers seeking increased child support by a process server wearing a Yankees shirt.

Bedard, who was making his first start since Sept. 3 because of a sore left knee, lasted just eight outs in the game, failing to finish a third inning in which he threw 51 pitches. All told, he gave up four runs (though just one of them was earned) in Boston's 7-5 loss to the Orioles.

After the game, Bedard said his unexpected pregame visit was not a distraction, even as it came in the middle of a pennant race.

"If you play a sport you have to put all that stuff aside," Bedard said in his postgame interview. "If you let outside distractions get to you, you can't focus out there."

According to the New York Post, the person serving Bedard the papers, lifelong Yankees fan Tom Cabral, wasn't trying to rattle the Red Sox lefty.

"When I walked in I was like, 'I'm a Yankees fan, but I'm not trying to (give you a hard time),'" he told the Post. "I told him that and said, 'Sorry, I've got to do this.' But he said it was no problem. I handed him the copies of all the documents, and he signed them."

According to multiple media reports, the legal papers were requesting an increase in child support for Bedard's 5-year-old daughter. His one-time partner, Courtney Roberts, filed a complaint in Suffolk Probate and Family Court on Tuesday asking for an adjustment to the original paternity agreement from 2006 because Bedard's salary has increased.

Bedard is a member of a Red Sox rotation that has struggled mightily in September. The Red Sox are fighting for their playoff lives, leading the Tampa Bay Rays by just two games heading into Wednesday's games with a little more than a week left in the regular season.