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Photo: Bunting is big as Sox get ready for home opener

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Dave Batchelder, of Alden Flag in Narragansett, hangs bunting around Fenway Park today as the Red Sox get ready for their home opener against the Detroit Tigers tomorrow. The field was being groomed, fresh paint was being applied and cleaning was being done.

The World Series champions, who kicked off their 2008 season in Japan, will start tomorrow's game at 2:05 p.m. But before that, they'll mark their winning season with a ring ceremony and more. Come back to the SoxBlog tomorrow for the latest before, during and after the game.

Posted by Andrea Panciera  at 7:26 PM | Permalink

Timlin finishes his night at Pawtucket

Mike Timlin's line in his rehab start at Pawtucket:

1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO. He threw 18 pitches, 12 for strikes

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:59 PM | Permalink

Colon, bothered by "soreness in his oblique," will miss at least one start

BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Bartolo Colon will be placed on the seven-day minor-league disabled list because of soreness in his oblique muscle, and will miss at least one start -- his scheduled start Tuesday at McCoy Stadium against Lehigh Valley -- for the Pawtucket Red Sox.

"It's not an oblique strain, but he does have some soreness in his oblique," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona today. "The training staff felt it was best to stop it now, because these things can linger."

Colon will report to Fenway Park on Tuesday to be examined by the team's medical staff, and a treatment program will be developed.

Posted by Art Martone  at 1:42 PM | Permalink

Beckett's Day One

Josh Beckett returned to the rotation on Sunday in Toronto and suffered the loss. Right now he's playing catch in right field with team trainer Mike Reinold. Bench coach Brad Mills is looking on.

The veteran right-hander allowed five runs on three hits in 4 2/3 innings of work against the Jays. He missed the majority of spring training with a sore back and hip.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 12:03 PM | Permalink

Globe: Colon has soreness, might be pushed back

The Boston Globe is reporting this morning that Bartolo Colon, who dazzled with his performance in Pawtucket on Thursday, is experiencing soreness in his right side, and that is next minor-league start might have to be delayed by a day or two. Colon is scheduled to face Lehigh Valley tomorrow afternoon at McCoy Stadium. The Globe report says that the problem does not appear to be serious.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:39 AM | Permalink

So much for a day off

Just arrived at Fenway Park and pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is running sprints in right field. The right-hander will start the home-opener Tuesday. He also stood on the mound here at Fenway and threw a few shadow pitches.

Joe McDonald

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments 2

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Tired in Toronto

Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He discusses the Red Sox' sorry showing in Toronto as well as the coming series with the 0-6 Detroit Tigers.

Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:

On the team's travel fatigue: "I think it was inevitable that it would catch up with them at some point. I think the combination of a pretty good team to beat, and maybe the Red Sox sort of collectively hitting the wall right before they got home, combined to result in those three losses."

On Josh Beckett "It's worth remembering that Beckett did not have a traditional spring training. He faced a college team in his first actual start down in Fort Myers at the end of February, and then when he took the mound the next time, that's when the back spasms happened, and he had to scratch himself from what would have been his first real Grapefruit League start. And then everything after that was either in a camp game, a simulated game, a minor-league game -- he never really faced major-league hitters. ... So they understood that he was not going to be at 100 percent [yesterday]. He hadn't maxed out on his arm strength or thrown as many pitches as he normally would have before facing major-league hitters in a regular-season game. So I think that's the explanation for tiring in the fifth inning and having some difficulty, and that resulted in leaving the bases loaded, and things unraveled after that."

On the bullpen: "One of the things I thought was interesting was that you have the fifth inning yesterday, which is hardly the time when you would ordinarily bring in one of your power setup guys that might otherwise be used in the seventh or eighth, and Terry Francona felt compelled to go to him in the fifth. To me that spoke to some issues about perhaps not having a lot of faith right now in the middle guys, and sort of having to use a guy like that far earlier in the game than you might otherwise do."

On the Tigers: "They're not 100-percent healthy ... they're without both Gary Sheffield and Curtis Granderson, so that affects that lineup that everyone knows is going to be pretty fearsome when it gets clicking. And it just seems like they came out of the gate and had everything bad happen to them at once. Bullpen blew a couple of games late ... really nothing has gone very well for them."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:18 AM to Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam | Permalink

Baseball Today: Monday, April 7

AP Photo

IF YOU AIN'T GOT A BULLPEN . . . Yogi Berra's most cogent maxim was proven beyond the shadow of a doubt this weekend, as the Sox' relief corps was torched for 11 runs (10 earned) in 6 1/3 innings in blowing a 3-3 tie Friday night (winding up in a 6-3 loss), turning a 4-2 deficit into a 10-2 defeat on Saturday and allowing a 2-2 game to morph into a 7-4 defeat on Sunday. Steven Krasner has the excruciating details of all three, two of which turned on Manny Delcarmen (above) showdowns with Frank Thomas. The results: A two-run double Friday night and a grand slam yesterday afternoon.

So the infinite road trip finally ends, and now, reports Krasner, the Sox return home for a day of rest and then a day of emotion: The Fenway Park opener against the Tigers and the ring ceremony, which will begin around 1 p.m.

GOOD NEWS OR BAD NEWS? No team in baseball is struggling more than the one next up on the Sox' schedule. The Tigers' humiliating 13-2 loss to the White Sox on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball dropped their record to 0-6, their worst start since going 0-9 in what wound up being a 119-loss season in 2003. (Detroit News) So comes the age-old, chicken-and-egg question: Is it better to play a team when it's going poorly, or do the law of averages dictate that a turnaround is due any second . . . especially when a team has as much talent as Detroit? The Free-Press' Drew Sharp doesn't sound too optimistic that a turnaround is coming, since the Tigers, he says, "are running blind right now. They can't hit. They can't pitch. They can't smartly run the bases. They can't catch the ball. They can't shake a lethargy that makes them look more like pampered fat cats than the hungry top cats most envisioned."

'I'M WIPED:' And he's not even playing. So while Curt Schilling says there's "no chance anyone on this team would make any excuses for [the Red Sox'] record on the trip," he proceeds to make one: The physical toll of all that traveling. (38pitches.com)

SHORT STORIES: Krasner reports the "defensive nightmare" of shortstop Julio Lugo continued with three errors yesterday, giving him four for the weekend. Meanwhile, down on the farm, Joe McDonald talks to Sox executives who are singing the praises of Jed Lowrie. Coincidence, coincidence . . . but just something to stick away in the back of your mind.

KEEPING WATCH: He'd never, ever admit it, but the Sox' relief implosion has probably raised the hopes of Craig Hansen, whom McDonald profiled Saturday. Already gone from the Boston bullpen is Kyle Snyder, though Krasner says he was a victim of the numbers game and his departure wasn't related to his 0-out, 2-walk, 2-runs-allowed performance on Saturday.

I WANNA THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING: The three straight wins have our pal the Tao of Steib feeling downright hospitable towards Red Sox Nation, which, ah, hasn't always been the case. In fact, Toronto fans were busting out all over -- so to speak -- on Opening Night. (Toronto Globe and Mail)

CALM DOWN: Toronto's sweep has the blog Jays Nest positively giddy, but the Globe and Mail's Jeff Blair says that while the three wins may mean "something to the Blue Jays . . . [they] frankly [mean] nothing to the Red Sox."

HINDSIGHT'S 20-20 . . . AND EYE-OPENING: Chad Finn lauds Baseball America for putting Josh Beckett -- then with the Marlins -- on the cover of its 2002 Prospect Handbook and relates in horror the top names in the Red Sox farm system at the time. (Horror, you say? How about Seung Song, Tony Blanco and Rene Miniel at 1-2-3?) Kevin Youkilis has made it from that class, and so, at a lower level, has Manny Delcarmen -- the weekend notwithstanding -- but, as Chad writes, "the organization was pretty damn far from being 'a player development machine'." (touchingallthebases.com)

MACHINE WORKER: McDonald writes that the new "player development machine" is about to spit out a decent piece named Brandon Moss.

MY KIND OF PLACE: Ernie Harwell has fond memories of Fenway Park. (Detroit Free Press)

FROM ONE A-ROD TO ANOTHER: Alex Rodriguez says he's praying for Alexa Rodriguez, the young girl who was attacked by a hawk while taking a tour at Fenway last week. (New York Daily News)

FEELING BETTER: Joe Girardi was sick over the weekend -- from a flu bug and not his team's play, though the Yanks' 13-4 and 6-3 losses to the Rays weren't exactly what the doctor ordered -- but both he and his club were feeling better yesterday after a 2-0 victory in which Joba Chamberlain hit 101 on the Yankee Stadium radar gun, which is said to be a little fast. (Both stories New York Daily News) Feeling the pain now is Jason Giambi, who has a sore left groin muscle and may miss tonight's series finale against Tampa Bay. (New York Post)

AND THE WINNER IN THE UNLIKELIEST QUOTE DEPARTMENT IS . . . Shelley Duncan of the Yankees. (Newsday)

THE ANSWER MAN: What's wrong with Kei Igawa? The blog Saber-Scouting.com breaks it down in excruciating detail. And here Peter Abraham just thought Igawa was "no damn good." (LoHud Yankees Blog)

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR: There are times when the joys of working at a baseball stadium are lost on this poor chap, who apparently is employed at the Great American Ballpark -- they are still calling it that, right? -- in Cincinnati.

JUST WAIT: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Jim Reeves says that if the Rangers manage to stay in contention through midseason, they may give Barry Bonds a call.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: When White Sox GM Ken Williams was pulled into Jose Canseco's web of steroids accusations -- under the "Williams knew what was going on and didn't do a damn thing" subcategory -- he didn't skulk into no-comment territory: He's hinting that he's going to file a lawsuit against Mr. Self-Appointed Whistleblower. (Chicago Sun-Times) "I'm not the guy that you want to go down that road with," Williams said. "Because I'm more likely to come out swinging, and I'll swing a hell of a lot harder than any punch you'll throw at me.''

TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE: Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt is familiar with cheating: In 1980, he was suspended 10 days for being caught with a thumbtack on his finger to cut the ball. (espn.com) (Honeycutt also scores in the Dumb Criminal Department: He rubbed his face absentmindedly with the hand that had the tack, cutting a gash in his forehead.) So perhaps his accusations should be taken more seriously than most after he announced he has a picture that shows Padres ace Jake Peavy with pine tar on his right hand. Peavy, though, says it's just dirt and that umpires can come out to the mound to check him any old time. (Los Angeles Times)

IT NEVER HURTS TO ASK: Dave Duncan's complaint about a St. Louis radio station putting him on the air without his permission has resulted in the host's suspension and the producer's dismissal. Even so, the Cardinals' pitching coach says he may still file charges with the FCC. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

IF YOU LISTEN TO THE FANS, YOU END UP SITTING WITH THEM: And Ozzie Guillen doesn't want to be sitting with some of the people who e-mail him. (Chicago Sun-Times)

QUICKLY: Francisco Rodriguez is blaming a sore left ankle for his drop in velocity (Los Angeles Times) . . . Randy Johnson will get one more minor-league rehab start before returning to the Diamondbacks (Arizona Republic) . . . The Tigers' Fernando Rodney isn't close to returning to Detroit, but he appears to be on the road to recovery (Detroit News) . . . The Wes Helms Saga is over at last: He's headed to the Marlins. (delawareonline.com)

OLD FRIENDS: Brandon Lyon may be pitching himself out of a job in Arizona, though manager Bob Melvin points out "I've been known to show some confidence in my guys" (Arizona Republic) . . . Gabe Kapler, on the other hand, may be hitting his way into one with the Brewers (Wisconsin State Journal) . . . Justin Duchscherer had an MRI to determine the severity of a biceps injury. (San Jose Mercury News)

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? And finally, in memory of Curt, Ned and Ken, may we present John Mayer:

Hey, at least he didn't scream, "Way back!"

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:29 AM | Permalink