ESPN

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- For the second consecutive game, the Boston Red Sox were visibly upset with the umpiring crew during a two-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez spoke his mind after Wednesday's 2-1 loss, saying it's tough to put together a professional at-bat when the plate umpire is inconsistent.

During the Sox's 5-3 win on Thursday, Gonzalez's teammates Mike Aviles and Dustin Pedroia also took exception to certain calls, and manager Bobby Valentine had their backs, too.

"You can't fight the umpire and the other team," Valentine said. "We're a highly competitive team and I'd like to be given a chance. A lot of guys had complaints tonight and I was with them. We've got to fight through it, that's for sure. We're trying our hardest and I think they're trying their hardest, too."

In the top of the seventh inning, Aviles was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Dan Bellino after he struck out looking. It was the first time in his career Aviles has been ejected.

"It was just frustrating, I guess," Aviles said. "I really wasn't questioning if it was a ball or strike on the last one. It was more of the fact that he had called two [other pitches] very similar balls, so I kind of shut off that pitch and when it got called a strike, I thought he gave me the hook prematurely, but at that point I definitely lost my cool and I apologize for that. It was definitely a little frustrating."

Pedroia, who went 2-for-5 with three strikeouts, was called out looking in the top of the ninth inning and gave Bellino the stare-down, too.

"They have a tough job," Pedroia said. "It's not easy. The game speeds up and I thought it might have sped up a little tonight, but it happens. It's tough, these games because we're fighting, trying to play well and facing some good pitching. It definitely affects your at-bats, but it's not an excuse. We are trying to have quality at-bats and hopefully the bat doesn't get taken out of your hands."

DURHAM, N.C. -- Daisuke Matsuzaka agrees with Boston manager Bobby Valentine. The Red Sox pitcher isn't quite ready to return to the big leagues -- yet.

Matsuzaka had his longest rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday night, but allowed five runs -- four earned -- in 6 2/3 innings of a 5-0 loss to the Durham Bulls. He threw 64 of his 95 pitches for strikes while allowing seven hits.

The Japanese star struck out three, hit one batter and gave up two home runs -- including one to the first hitter he faced, and a three-run shot in the sixth.

"Of course, the three-run home run isn't something to be proud of, but being able to throw 95 pitches and throw as deep into the game as I did is something positive to take away from this game," Matsuzaka said through an interpreter.

Matsuzaka has been on the disabled list for more than a year, is working his way back from Tommy John surgery last June and allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings in his previous start.

He made his fifth rehab start and third with Pawtucket, and hadn't gone more than 5 1/3 innings in his previous four. He's expected to start again Tuesday at Norfolk. Pitchers' rehab assignments may last no more than 30 days, and for Matsuzaka, that period ends next Wednesday.

Valentine has said he doesn't believe Matsuzaka is close to pitching in the majors.

(Read full post)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox right fielder Cody Ross, whose miscue on a fly ball on Wednesday allowed the eventual game-winning run to score on a sacrifice fly, answered with his bat on Thursday to help Boston to a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Ross went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, a run and a walk.

He hit his seventh homer of the season, a solo shot, in the top of the third inning. Then, with the Sox clinging to a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth, Ross delivered a two-out, two-run single.

"Cody was big tonight," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said after the game. "He busted the third changeup he saw over the center-field fence and he busted their shift with two RBI that turned out to be the two that we needed. Cody will give you everything he has and that's enough for me. He's a good player."

Red Sox starter Felix Doubront worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits with four walks and seven strikeouts. He tossed 97 pitches, 62 for strikes. On the other side, Tampa starter Matt Moore worked six innings and allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Moore tossed 33 pitches in the first inning and walked in Boston's first run of the game when Ross drew the free pass with the bases loaded.

CATCHER'S INTERFERENCE: Red Sox catcher Kelly Shoppach is a strong, solid defender behind the plate. There's a reason the club signed him to a one-year deal in the offseason to serve as Jarrod Saltalamacchia's backup. Shoppach, playing against his former team, served as Felix Doubront's batterymate Thursday. The Red Sox held a 3-0 lead with two outs in the bottom of the third inning when Shoppach interfered on a swing by the Rays' B.J. Upton. The batter was awarded first base and he later scored to give Tampa its first run of the game. Shoppach also allowed a passed ball and went 0-for-3 at the plate and was pinch-hit for by Saltalamacchia in the top of the ninth inning.

BYE-BYE BYRDIE: Recently acquired Red Sox outfielder, Marlon Byrd, hit is first home run of the season with Boston to lead off the top of the second inning Thursday night. He crushed a 3-2 offering from Moore and deposited it into the left-field seats. It was his first homer in 126 at-bats, dating back to last season when he was with the Cubs.

HEADS-UP: In the early afternoon hours on Thursday, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price retweeted this from a fan: "Moore should put one right between his numbers."

What Price's Twitter follower was referring to was the fact that Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez predicted after Wednesday's 2-1 loss that he would hit a home run in Thursday's game against the Rays at Tropicana.

Gonzalez is stuck at two homers this season and hasn't hit one since April 17. So, with two runners on and one out in the top of the first inning, he stepped into the batter's box against Tampa starter Matt Moore and, on the first offering, the right-hander drilled Gonzalez in the back.

Gonzalez led off the top of the third inning and absolutely crushed a foul ball deep down the right-field line. On the next pitch, he struck out looking. In the bottom half of the inning, Red Sox starter Felix Doubront returned the favor and drilled the Rays' Luke Scott in the back, who appeared a little upset with the HBP as he made his way to first base.

Gonzalez grounded out to shortstop in the fifth inning and then just got under one in the eighth inning, flying out to right field.

TOSSED: Gonzalez had also complained about the balls and strikes calls in Wednesday's game. Well, teammate Mike Aviles took it a step further and got ejected in Thursday's game. Plate umpire Dan Bellino tossed Aviles for arguing a called third strike. It was the first ejection of Aviles' career.

"It was just frustrating, I guess," Aviles said after the game. "I really wasn't questioning if it was a ball or strike on the last one. It was more of the fact that he had called two [other pitches] very similar balls, so I kind of shut off that pitch and when it got called a strike, I thought he gave me the hook prematurely, but at that point I definitely lost my cool and I apologize for that. It was definitely a little frustrating."

REHAB START: Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka made his fifth minor league rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday night in Durham, N.C. The rehabbing right-hander worked 6 2/3 innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits with no walks and three strikeouts. He also surrendered two home runs and tossed 95 pitches, 64 for strikes. He's slated to make another rehab start on Tuesday.

UP NEXT: Bring on interleague play. After a quick two-game set in Tampa, the Red Sox head to Philadelphia for a three-game series against the Phillies and Jonathan Papelbon. On Friday, Boston right-hander Daniel Bard (3-4, 4.30 ER) toes the rubber against Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels (5-1, 2.28).

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis (back strain) will rejoin the club at some point during this current road trip, but manager Bobby Valentine said it all depends on when the rehabbing third baseman is ready.

"It’s on him when he’s ready," Valentine said.

Youkilis began his minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday in Durham, N.C., and went 1-for-2, including a double, a walk and a run scored as the PawSox’s designated hitter.

"He hit a 94 mph fastball and was real aggressive at the plate,” Valentine said. “He got in all of his work. He battled a walk and it sounds like he had a good night.”

Youkilis had Thursday off and is scheduled to start at third base for Pawtucket on Friday.

The Red Sox kicked off an eight-game, eight-day road trip Wednesday at Tampa. They'll be in Philadelphia on Friday for a weekend series with the Phillies, before heading to Baltimore, where the trip concludes next Wednesday.

In an ideal world, prospects would follow a natural progression by advancing a level each year and assuming their rightful place on the big league club in a few years' time. But every season, a variety of circumstances conspire to keep a player at the same level he spent the previous year, be it a logjam at the position or additional developmental requirements for the player.

Whatever the case, repeating a level is far from an indictment of the player's future. This year, the list of players who began 2012 with the same affiliate they started with in 2011 comprises a pair of top prospects trying to permanently break through the glass ceiling in Pawtucket, a bundle of bonus babies, and several players on the 40-man roster. Here's a rundown of those players, and how they've fared so far this season.

Triple-A Pawtucket

Jose Iglesias, SS (Opening Day Age: 22; SoxProspects.com ranking: No. 5)
Iglesias, the slick-fielding Cuban defector, is hitting .267 with three extra-base hits and a .324 OBP. Last year, he hit .235 with just a .285 OBP. He spent a week with the big league club in May 2011 before earning a September call-up, and was briefly summoned to the majors when Kevin Youkilis went down earlier this month. The team seems comfortable with Iglesias in a pinch–his defense is more than ready for the majors, but the Red Sox are happy to let his development continue in Pawtucket.

Lars Anderson, 1B/LF (Age 24; SP No. 21)
Anderson, a former top prospect at first, has been working in the outfield to make himself more valuable in Boston. But until then, he continues to bide his time in Pawtucket, where he spent most of the previous two seasons before earning a September call-up each year. He was summoned to Boston in April, where he was utilized some in left field. Anderson is batting .255 with three home runs and an .811 OPS in 106 at-bats in Pawtucket this season, down slightly from last year, when he hit .265 with 14 homers.

Other notables
Second baseman Tony Thomas is batting .242/.292/.424 this year for the PawSox. ... Utility man Nate Spears, the perennial spring training darling, began the year with Pawtucket again before earning an early call-up to Boston. He's hitting .226 in 26 games for Pawtucket. ... Right-hander Brandon Duckworth, the eight-year major league veteran, has begun 2012 by going 5-0 with a 3.95 ERA in nine appearances (seven starts). ... Right-hander Tony Pena Jr., a former major league shortstop, posted a 3.56 ERA in 33 appearances (14 starts) last year, but has struggled to a 5.71 ERA in eight appearances (one start) this season.

(Read full post)

With Felix Doubront taking the mound tonight in Tampa, here's the Red Sox lineup:

1. Mike Aviles, SS
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
5. Will Middlebrooks, 3B
6. Cody Ross, RF
7. Daniel Nava, LF
8. Marlon Byrd, CF
9. Kelly Shoppach, C
Felix Doubront -- LHP

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine didn't have an explanation as to why his pitchers are having trouble concentrating on the mound with runners on base and have been called for a total of four balks in the last week, including three during Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

“I don’t get it,” Valentine said shaking his head. “It’s like an epidemic.”

Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz became the latest victim and the second pitcher in the last nine games to balk in a run.

With the game scoreless in the bottom of the second inning, there were two outs with runners on the corners when Buchholz was called for the miscue, which allowed Tampa’s Carlos Pena to score.

Fellow Red Sox starter Daniel Bard had a similar brain freeze last week.

Buchholz explained the balk after the game, saying his spikes got caught in the clay on the mound.

“In my head I was going third to first,” Buchholz said. “I came up and my back cleat got caught and I tried to spin around and go third to first, so that was that.”

The balks didn’t end with Buchholz.

In the bottom of the seventh, reliever Franklin Morales balked and allowed a runner on first to advance. In the bottom of the eighth, Morales again was called for a balk, allowing Tampa runner Luke Scott to advance to third.

“The first one, I made it, but the second one I didn’t do anything wrong,” Morales said. “I saw the video and all I did was shake my pitch. I didn’t move my hand.”

The three balks were the most by an AL team since Al Leiter had three for Toronto on April 23, 1994 vs. Minnesota.

“I’m a little surprised, but I’m not going to make a big deal about it,” pitching coach Bob McClure said. “You just take a deep breath with runners on base. We’ll probably go two months and not have another one.”

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Boston Red Sox’s winning streak ended at five games with a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.

Clay Buchholz’s outing ended Boston’s string of five consecutive quality starts. He lasted only five innings (plus two batters in the sixth) and allowed two runs on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts. He tossed a total of 87 pitches (59 strikes). He also hit a batter and was called for a balk.

In fact, for the second time in the last nine games a Red Sox starter balked in a run. Buchholz became the latest victim on Wednesday during a scoreless game in the bottom of the second inning.

With two outs and runners on the corners, Buchholz was called for the miscue, which allowed Tampa’s Carlos Pena to score, giving the Rays a 1-0 lead. Fellow Red Sox starter Daniel Bard had a similar brain freeze last week.

Tampa starter Jeremy Hellickson worked six innings and allowed only one run on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

With the score 1-1, the Rays’ Matt Joyce led off the bottom of the sixth with a comebacker off Buchholz’s left heel. Joyce was safe on the play. Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine and team trainers came out to examine Buchholz, who stayed in the game for one more batter before he was removed in favor of lefty Andrew Miller.

“It’s a little sore but nothing big,” Buchholz said after the game. “I didn’t even need to get X-rays or anything like that. I’ve had broken bones before and it doesn’t feel like a broken bone.”

With no outs and runners on the corners, Tampa’s Luke Scott lifted a high fly ball to right field. Cody Ross had trouble with the lights and roof at the Trop and could not position himself properly to make a strong throw home, as Joyce scored from third on the sacrifice fly to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.

BALK AGAIN: The balks didn’t end with Buchholz. In the bottom of the seventh, reliever Franklin Morales balked and allowed a runner on first to advance. In the bottom of the eighth, he again was called for a balk, allowing Scott to advance to third.

SCARY MOMENT: Morales was removed from the game after he drilled the Rays’ Will Rhymes on the elbow with a pitch with one out in the eighth. After Rhymes was checked out by trainers, he made his way to first base, then collapsed. He remained on the ground for a few minutes before he was taken off on a golf cart.

TWO IS A LONELY NUMBER: Entering Wednesday’s game, Red Sox cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzalez had hit safely in seven of his previous nine games, carrying with him a .287 average with 20 RBIs this season. However, he has only two homers, with his last one coming on April 17.

NAVA-BOOM CONTINUES: Red Sox outfielder Daniel Nava continues to be an on-base machine. He entered Wednesday’s game with a .708 OBP since his recall on May 10. He provided a RBI single in the top of the fourth with a sagging liner to left-center that tied the game at 1-1. He has hit safely in all seven games since his call-up. He has also reached base safely in 18 of 28 at-bats.

DO I, OR DON’T I: Red Sox rookie third baseman Will Middlebrooks, along with his timely and consistent offensive surge, also has played solid defense since being called up from Triple-A Pawtucket on May 2. In the bottom of the third Wednesday night, he quickly found himself in the midst of having to make a split-second decision when the Rays’ Elliot Johnson dropped a bunt down the third-base line. Middlebrooks had a good jump on the ball, and even though it appeared to be rolling foul, he snared it in fair territory and had to hold it as Johnson reached base safely to lead off the inning. Buchholz retired the next three batters to get out of the inning.

YOUK’S REHAB: Third baseman Kevin Youkilis (back strain) began his minor league rehab assignment with the PawSox in Wednesday night in Durham, N.C. He served as Pawtucket’s DH against the Durham Bulls and went 1-for-2, including a double, a walk and a run scored. He’ll have Thursday off before playing third base for the PawSox on Friday. If he continues to progress, it’s possible he could rejoin the Red Sox on their three-city road trip.

UP NEXT: The Red Sox will send left-hander Felix Doubront (3-1, 4.46 ERA) to the mound on Thursday to face Tampa lefty Matt Moore (1-3, 5.31).

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, whose minor league rehab assignment for Tommy John surgery expires May 23, isn’t close to being ready to be promoted to the major leagues, Boston manager Bobby Valentine said Wednesday.

Matsuzaka is set to make a minor league start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday in Durham, N.C., and another on May 22.

During Boston’s last homestand, Matsuzaka spent some time around his teammates at Fenway and spoke at length with Valentine about his progress. It’s been less than a year (June 10) since Matsuzaka had Tommy John reconstructive surgery on his right elbow, and even though he’s nearly a month into a minor league rehab stint, both pitcher and manager apparently agree it could be a while before he’s ready for a major league mound.

“I don’t think he’s all that close to be pitching in the major leagues,” Valentine said. “He might take a big step, but not until he’s ready. It’s not the calendar that will dictate when he pitches in the major leagues.”

If Matsuzaka is not added to the major league roster when his rehab assignment expires, the Red Sox could place him back on the DL and start the process all over again.

“We can’t say when the 30-day clock’s done now the guy has to get into a major league game and get whacked,” Valentine said. “It doesn’t sound right to me.”

After his most recent outing, Matsuzaka said he’s not happy with his mechanics. That has been his focus with Pawtucket.

“I’m not sure he’s put his elbow situation behind him yet,” Valentine said. “I don’t think he understands where he is with his elbow, which is very important.”

Based on their conversations, Valentine said, he doesn’t think Matsuzaka will come to him tomorrow and say, “Bring on the Yankees.”

The confidence issue Matsuzaka must deal with is whether he will change his delivery or revert back to how he was throwing when he first suffered the elbow injury.

“It’s a very confusing state,” Valentine said. “Until he figures that out totally in his mind, he won’t be in competition. We want him to be here, and not only healthy here, we want him to be able to be in the competition here.”

At this point, it seems unlikely Matsuzaka will be ready to be promoted May 23.

“The conversations I’ve had with him he’s been honest and as straightforward as he can possibly be,” Valentine said.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine received some positive news Wednesday afternoon when he read the daily medical updates of his rehabbing players.

Left fielder Carl Crawford (wrist/elbow) will have the “potential” to start swinging a bat when the team returns from his current road trip late next week. Also, closer Andrew Bailey (thumb) has received clearance to begin a throwing program at some point next week after he was examined Tuesday in Cleveland by the doctor who performed his surgery last month.

Both players have been on the disabled list all season and there’s no timetable for when either will be ready for action.

Crawford had surgery on his wrist last January and was hitting in the early weeks of spring training when he suffered a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his left throwing elbow. Instead of surgery, the Red Sox decided the outfielder would follow a more conservative course of treatment.

Bailey suffered a thumb injury during spring training and had surgery to repair a torn ligament in early April. He has said all along that he hopes to return at some point this season.

“Boy, he’s been working,” Valentine said. “He’s one of those guys, I’m sure we’ll have to hold him back.”

Valentine added the team also would use a conservative approach with Bailey.

HEADS-UP: Pitcher Felix Doubront, who was hit in the right ear by an errant fungo ball while he was playing catch in the outfield Tuesday morning at Fenway Park, was tested for a concussion and the results came back negative, so he’s still on schedule to start on Thursday in Tampa.

PITCHERS BEWARE: Doubront wasn’t the only Red Sox pitcher to be struck by a ball in the last couple of days. Lefty reliever Rich Hill was hit on his throwing elbow during BP on Wednesday in Tampa and was escorted off the field with a trainer. He was playing catch and put his arms up to protect his head from an oncoming ball when he was hit. He said he was fine.

LACKEY PROGRESSES: Pitcher John Lackey has been with the team for the last few days, but he will return to Fort Myers to continue his rehab from Tommy John surgery at the club’s spring training facility. The right-hander has been playing catch at 150 feet.

In this week's edition of State of the Nation (video above), Gordon Edes is joined by Joe McDonald to break down a dominating performance from Josh Beckett against the Mariners. The two also look preview a tough road ahead for the Red Sox.

BOSTON -- Maybe this is why the extra TV cameras were here Tuesday afternoon -- they were anticipating the sight of a Red Sox pitcher succumbing to tears on the mound.

That's what people do in reality shows, isn't it?

But while Josh Beckett complained last week that he'd become the reluctant star of Off-Days of Our Lives, he managed to shift attention back to the ball field Tuesday afternoon with an outing as dominating as his last effort was depressing.

Tim Wakefield, honored before the game in a touching ceremony, was the only person in a Red Sox uniform weeping Tuesday, when the Red Sox closed out a six-game homestand with their fifth straight win, 5-0 over the Seattle Mariners.

Beckett, who turned 32 on Tuesday, struck out 7 of the first 11 Mariners he faced on his way to seven scoreless innings in which he allowed just four hits, walked two and finished with nine whiffs.

That was a dramatic turnaround from his previous effort, in which he lasted just seven outs while giving up seven runs, making him a jumbo-sized target for those who had questioned his decision to play golf a day after the club had announced he was physically unable to make his next start because of a strained back muscle.

The withering boos Beckett heard as he left the mound last Thursday were merely a warmup to the cascade of criticism he endured after a postgame press conference in which he essentially invited everyone to butt out of his life, stating that what he did on his day off was no one's business but his own.

Given that "Josh Beckett: I Answer to No One But Me" was probably not the marketing slogan the Sox had in mind for the man who supposedly sets the tone for the starting rotation, interest in his next start heightened, which probably accounted for the cameras of ESPN, among others, to be present when he took the mound Tuesday.

But there were no sideshows Tuesday, just Beckett toying with the overmatched Mariners, who advanced only one runner to third base -- Ichiro Suzuki, who took advantage of Beckett's indifference to what he did by stealing second and third with two out and the Sox ahead by four runs in the sixth.

Beckett's performance meant that the Sox made it one full turn through the rotation in which each of their five starters was credited with a win, the most encouraging development during a streak that has drawn the Sox to within two games of .500 (17-19) after they'd begun the month of May with losses in 8 of their first 9 games.

David Ortiz homered over the visitors' bullpen to give the Sox a 1-0 lead in the third, the homer his eighth of the season.

Daniel Nava, who has been a catalyst since his recall last week, was in the middle of a two-run Sox rally in the fourth, his single sending Cody Ross, who had walked, to third. Mike Aviles doubled home one run, and an infield out scored the other.

Ortiz's surprise bunt single in the fifth led to another run, Will Middlebrooks bringing home Ortiz with a wall-ball single, accounting for his 14th RBI in just a dozen games. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, playing for the first time since his 5-RBI game Sunday, doubled and scored on another double by Aviles in the eighth.

The Sox outscored the Mariners, 11-1, in this two-game set, and in their five wins against Cleveland and Seattle outscored their opponents, 34-8. They head to St. Petersburg, Fla., after the game for the start of an eight-game trip bookended by games against AL East rivals Tampa Bay (2) and Baltimore (3), with an interleague three-game set against the Phillies in between.

BOSTON -- Red Sox pitcher Felix Doubront had a little bit of a scare during early field work Tuesday morning at Fenway Park.

The left-hander was playing catch in the outfield when an errant fungo ball struck him in the right ear.

“I’m good,” he said. “Ready to go.”

He was examined and deemed fine by the team’s medical staff.

“Whenever anyone comes off the field you hold your breath, but he tested fine, he feels good and knows where he is and knows where he’s going,” explained Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine. “Thank goodness it just hit his ear and he’ll be just fine.”

Doubront is set to start on Thursday in Tampa.

Wake's day: Former Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will be honored in a pregame ceremony. He recently retired during spring training after a 19-year career, 17 of those seasons in Boston. He won 200 games (186 with the Red Sox), worked over 3,000 innings, started 430 games, posted 2,046 strikeouts in Boston.

Valentine sat in the Red Sox dugout on Tuesday with old-school knuckler Charlie Hough and the two talked about the art of throwing such a vintage pitch. Hough told Valentine the key is to start throwing the pitch early.

“To be as good as Tim would be very tough,” Valentine said. “He was a very valuable pitcher.”

Glove work: With interleague play quickly approaching, Red Sox DH David Ortiz took some ground balls at first base Tuesday afternoon. The big man has some good hands in the field and has proved that in the past. Valentine was sitting in the dugout, watching Ortiz take fungos. After a quick two-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays, beginning Wednesday, the Red Sox travel to Philadelphia to face the Phillies in a three-game series. Because Ortiz has been hitting the ball so well in the early part of the season, he’ll likely play first base at some point during that series, which means Adrian Gonzalez could see some action in the outfield.

“I think he’s fine,” Valentine said. “I think David can play first base, and Adrian looks alright in the outfield, too.”

Bat work: Red Sox pitchers have also been swinging the bat during this current homestand in preparation for interleague, including Josh Beckett, who pitches Tuesday. The BP progression for pitchers starts with soft toss in the cage, to tee work before hitting in the cage. They’ve also hit outside the last few days.

Birthday boy: Beckett turns 32 today.

BOSTON -- Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis (back strain) will begin a minor league rehab stint with the Pawtucket Red Sox on Wednesday at Durham, N.C.

He will serve as the PawSox’s designated hitter and get three at-bats. He will then play the field on Thursday for Pawtucket before a final decision is made whether he’ll rejoin the Red Sox in Philadelphia on Friday.

Youkilis was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 2 (retroactive to April 29) and was eligible to be activated on Monday.

On Sunday, Youkilis began taking ground balls and was able to swing the bat and he’s been able to continue that routine for the last three days.

“He looked really good taking his ground balls,” said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine. “He was moving around today with a bounce in his step. He’ll start tomorrow and get him enough, whatever it’s going to take to have him say that he feels good.”

Since Youkilis has been sidelined, rookie third baseman Will Middlebrooks was called up from Pawtucket and has hit .304 with four homers and 13 RBI in 11 games for the Red Sox.

ESPN's Mark Schwarz checks in from Fenway Park to preview Josh Beckett's start today (4 p.m. start) -- which also happens to be Beckett's 32nd birthday -- against the Mariners.