Projo Sox Blog

It was word that Josh Beckett's next start would be pushed back at least three days because of "tingling and numbness" in the fingers on his throwing arm, a condition the Red Sox say is no big deal -- Terry Francona attributed it to sleeping awkwardly on his pitching arm the other night -- but which Joe McDonald reports could be a sign of something serious.

McDonald talked to Dr. Robert Shalvoy of University Orthopedics in Providence, who -- while stressing he hasn't examined Beckett, nor is familiar with the particulars of his case -- said those symptoms could be a sign of elbow problems and are something the Red Sox "need to treat . . . pretty seriously."

Which isn't to say the Sox aren't, no matter what Francona is saying publicly. (The very act of pushing back his next start is a sign that they're not taking it lightly.) And take it seriously they should, because, as Nick Cafardo of the Globe points out, an injury to Beckett probably extinguishes whatever realistic postseason hopes the Sox have. "With Beckett," he writes, "the Sox line up well against the Angels' John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Joe Saunders. They can line up against the White Sox' Mark Buehrle, John Danks, and Gavin Floyd/Javier Vazquez. They can match up against Tampa Bay's Scott Kazmir, James Shields, and Matt Garza. In the playoffs, matchups become crucial."

Without Beckett . . .

BACK TO NORMAL: As for the game, it was another typical Daisuke Matsuzaka slop-fest -- six hits allowed, five walks, only two runs scored, 105 pitches, gone after five innings -- with another typical Daisuke Matsuzaka result: A victory. McDonald reports Kevin Youkilis (left) deserves more of the credit for this one than Dice-K.

SOURCE OF PRIDE: The blog The Baseball Talmud is proud to know that of the top five hitters in the American League, two of them -- Youkilis and Ian Kinsler -- are Jewish.

BACK ON TRACK: The Sox are hoping they can get Clay Buchholz there as he returns to the starting rotation tonight. (projo.com) On WEEI.com, Rob Bradford reports Buchholz and pitching coach John Farrell may have found a flaw in Buchholz' delivery that's causing the problem with location on his pitches.

'LOST MY HEAD': Dustin Pedroia "didn't appreciate it" when first-base umpire Alfonso Marquez "showed me up" on a check-swing call in the ninth inning last night, but admits his subsequent ejection from the game "was stupid on my part" since the Sox had already taken Sean Casey out of the game and had to put a makeshift lineup in the infield in the bottom of the ninth. (Boston Herald) Francona agrees with Pedroia that it was stupid. "I would've thrown him out, too," he said.

Marquez will be behind the plate tonight. Interesting to see what happens first time Pedroia comes to bat.

GET WELL SOON: The other big news of the night was that Hall of Famer, and Red Sox icon, Carl Yastrzemski underwent emergency triple-bypass heart surgery yesterday. McDonald has the story, and talks to Jerry Remy and Jim Palmer about Yaz. The Yastrzemski family issued a statement late last night (Boston Globe), and the Boston Herald's Tony Massarotti calls Yaz the founding father of Red Sox Nation.

SPEECHLESS: Well, that's not quite true -- Curt Schilling can never be described that way -- but he certainly had a difficult time summoning what was in his heart as he thanked Red Sox fans in general, and our pals at Sons of Sam Horn in particular, for the $4.8 million that was raised in last week's WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Telethon. (38pitches.com)

FARM REPORT: On his Hacks With Haggs blog, Joe Haggerty reports the Red Sox are still bullish on Daniel Bard.

READY FOR HARVEST? Closer to the big-league level, Steven Krasner reports Kyle Snyder and Jason Lane are hoping to get the call to Boston once rosters expand Sept. 1.

WHAT AN EXPERIENCE: Now it's the Angels turn to claim that, yeah, they're playing okay now, but we've got the experience and that'll make the difference in the end. (Los Angeles Times) That was the Red Sox' cry two months ago and they still trail in the A.L. East in 4 1/2 games; L.A.'s assurances ring a little hollow, too, after the Rays made it two in a row over Los Angeles of Anaheim -- the team hailed far and wide as the class of the American League, if not baseball -- by scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth and coming away with a 4-2 victory. (St. Petersburg Times) For Tampa Bay, last night was nothing more than vindication after an "unconscionable" and "fabricated" call -- Joe Maddon's words -- by first-base umpire Jerry Meals in the sixth inning (St. Petersburg Times) that choked off a Tampa Bay rally and led to Maddon's ejection (right). It was all quite exciting; click the link to read what the hoo-hah was about. Gordon Edes made his way to Tampa in spite of Tropical Storm Fay and says last night was a pretty significant moment for the Rays in a season of significant moments. (Yahoo!)

IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN: A contrite B.J. Upton was talking the talk after his latest controversy (Tampa Tribune); now we shall see if he walks the walk. Or, rather, runs the run since walking -- or jogging at three-quarters speed -- is what got him in trouble in the first place. The St. Petersburg Times' John Romano gives Upton the benefit of the doubt, but the Tampa Tribune's Martin Fennelly is a bit more skeptical.

BOTTOM OF THE PIT: Doesn't seem like it can get much worse for the Yankees, not after a 2-1 loss in Toronto in which the winning run scored when Johnny Damon, back in center field full time, dropped a fly ball with two outs in the eighth. (New York Post) That puts them 11 behind the Rays in the A.L. East and 6 1/2 behind the Red Sox in the wild card; not only that, they're now only a game ahead of the Blue Jays. (I'd link to some of the Toronto fan sites for their reaction, but our pal Tao of Stieb and Drunk Jays Fans are a little too obscenely euphoric for this PG-rated publication.) It also ruined the return of Hideki Matsui, who went 0-for-3 in his return to the lineup. (New York Daily News)

SLOW DOWN: Joba Chamberlain is aiming to be back pitching by Sept. 1, but the Yankees say there's no such timetable.

STRANGER THAN FICTION: He's not even back in New York yet, and Carl Pavano is once again sidelined by injury. (New York Post)

THE MELKMAN CAN STILL DELIVER: Tim Marchman of the New York Sun says all is not lost -- yet -- with Melby Cabrera.

HE WHO LAUGHS LAST: Wallace Matthews of Newsday thinks the Yanks' struggles this year are vindication for Joe Torre, who "clearly . . . wasn't the problem with this team last year any more than [Joe] Girardi is the problem with it this year." But ShysterBall's Craig Calcaterra "can't think of a single thing that Joe Torre would have done better in New York than Girardi has while I can think of many things worse."

I'LL BE BACK: Mets closer Billy Wagner insists his elbow injury won't keep him out for the rest of the season. (Newsday)

A.L. RACES: The White Sox stayed atop the Central Division standings with a 5-0 shutout of the Mariners (Chicago Tribune) . . . The Twins remain a game behind the White Sox in the Central and 1 1/2 back of the Red Sox in the wild card after their 13-2 rout of the A's. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

I'M IMPRESSED: Patrick Sullivan of Baseball Analysts sings the White Sox' praises.

N.L. RACES: In the East, the Mets maintained their 1 1/2 game lead over the Phillies as they beat the Braves, 7-3 (New York Daily News) while Philadelphia was getting by the Nationals, 5-4 (Philadelphia Inquirer). The Marlins are four back after Ricky Nolasco pitched a two-hitter in a 6-0 win over the Giants (Miami Herald) . . . CC who? Rich Harden recorded the fourth double-digit strikeout game in his seven starts as a Cub as he pitched Chicago past the Reds, 5-0 (Chicago Tribune), and pushed the Cubbies' lead to six games in the Central . . . It went up because the Brewers went down. Ben Sheets dropped to 1-5, with a 4.06 ERA, in his last eight starts as Milwaukee lost to Houston, 5-2 (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . The Brew Crew, however, remains 2 1/2 ahead in the wild-card scrum because the Cardinals lost to the Pirates, 4-1 (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . In the West, the Diamondbacks moved ahead of the Dodgers by a game as Arizona beat the Padres (Arizona Republic) and Los Angeles lost to the Rockies. (Los Angeles Times)

AM NOT, AM NOT: They sent him out to the mound on Monday night in ninth inning with a 9-2 lead and 112 pitches under his belt, and FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says that leads to speculation that the Brewers, knowing they have little to no chance of retaining him once he becomes a free agent, don't really care how hard they work CC Sabathia because they don't really care what happens to him after this season. But Ned Yost denies that he's overworking the free-agent-to-be. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

A NEW BEGINNING: Greg Maddux is happy to be back in a pennant race as he joins the Dodgers. (Los Angeles Times) On his blog, Paul DePodesta wishes Maddux the best.

THE END? Jason Isringhausen has left the Cardinals -- and told some people with the club that "I'm done" -- after being diagnosed with what is believed to be a career-threatening torn flexor muscle near his right elbow. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

SORRY . . . I GUESS: Jeff Kent apologizes -- sort of -- for criticizing Vin Scully. (Los Angeles Times)

THE WORST MOVES ARE THE ONES YOU DON'T MAKE: Rosenthal thinks the Dodgers will regret not blocking Adam Dunn's trade to the Diamondbacks.

WE APPRECIATE YOUR PATRONAGE: Cincinnati Reds management has sent a letter to its fans explaining their recent moves -- including the trade of Dunn -- and thanking them for their support. (mlb.com)

MY PICK: Old friend Rob Neyer says David Wright is his choice for National League MVP. (espn.com)

STILL A FEW BUGS IN THE SYSTEM: MLB and its umpires are at odds over the procedures to be instituted when instant replay comes to baseball. (AP via Yahoo!)

LOCAL BOYS: Chris Iannetta has been temporarily sidelined because of a bruised left foot. (Denver Post)

HERE AND THERE: The 'ol fat toad himself, Hideki Irabu, was arrested in Tokyo on assault charges (AP via google) . . . Chris Carpenter reported no problems throwing off flat ground (mlb.com) . . . Felix Hernandez says the line drive off his ankle won't cause him to miss a start (Seattle Times) . . . Erik Bedard, meanwhile, may begin throwing off a mound on Saturday (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) . . . Former Orioles closer Chris Ray is on the mend from Tommy John surgery (mlb.com) . . . Neck spasms will force the Reds' Aaron Harang to miss his next start (mlb.com) . . . A stiff back had sidelined the Royals' Alex Gordon (mlb.com) . . . The Orioles say Adam Jones may resume baseball activities later this week (Baltimore Sun) . . . Indians prospect Matt LaPorta is said to be fine after his beaning in the Olympics. (cleveland.com)

OLD FRIENDS: Justin Duchscherer will have an MRI on his hip today. (San Francisco Chronicle)

AND FINALLY . . . The blog Surviving Grady has found the most sadly ironic poster I've ever seen of Carl Yastrzemski. Maybe it was true once, but not for a long, long time.

-- ART MARTONE