It's likely Francona will go to the Wells
OAKLAND, Calif. -- No official announcement came yesterday, but all indications point toward David Wells starting tomorrow, exactly three weeks after he went on the disabled list.
''Just not ready to announce it officially yet," manager Terry Francona said before last night's game. ''He's getting on schedule. It seems silly to say something, if he pulls a groin. And we have guys who have to be moved around."
Wells's addition will mean the subtraction of Jeremi Gonzalez, who was 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA in 14 innings over three starts. Wells threw a scaled-back bullpen session of about 35 pitches yesterday and after that deemed himself ready to pitch without limitation.
''I'm not going to hold back," he said. ''That's not in my nature. If it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be.
''Stamina's there, that's a good sign. I don't see why I couldn't throw 100 [pitches]. I wouldn't have any problem with that. I don't feel like I'm behind at any point. You never know until you go out there."
Wells injured himself against the Orioles April 25 at Fenway Park coming off the mound in an attempt to field a Javy Lopez roller. He gave up a two-run homer to the next batter, B.J. Surhoff. Wells said he didn't throw a curveball after injuring himself, since the shorter stride was more painful for his sprained plantar fascia ligament on the bottom of his right foot.
''When you're hurting like that, in the back of your mind, you know it's going to burn, so you try to get away with the other stuff," Wells said. ''I didn't want to come out. I was stubborn."
But yesterday and last Friday, Wells said he felt no hesitation throwing all of his pitches.
''I've thrown curveballs, slide-step, nothing [wrong], it feels pretty good," he said.
Wells, who turns 42 Friday, is 2-3 with a 4.91 ERA in five starts.
General manager Theo Epstein initially said Wells was facing ''three weeks of immobilization," suggesting at least four weeks on the DL.
First impression
Kevin Youkilis started at first base last night for the first time in the majors, ending Kevin Millar's streak of starting every game -- the only Red Sox player who had done so. Francona asked Millar on the last homestand if he wanted a day off, but Millar said he'd prefer to take the off day on the road. He played that day, and homered in the bottom of the ninth to beat the A's, 3-2. ''It turned out to be a nice decision," Millar said. Youkilis, meanwhile, is relatively new to first base. He'd played the position his senior year of high school, in high A ball, and for two games in Pawtucket last season. But he worked in the offseason on the nuances, and during his two weeks in Pawtucket this year, he was playing five days a week at first base and two at third. ''If anything, it's a little easier," Youkilis said of fielding. ''All you have to do is knock it down." The more difficult aspects, he said, are finding the bag when receiving a throw and turning the 3-6-3 double play. ''They say it's the hardest double play to make in baseball," said Youkilis . . . The Sox entered last night with at least one home run in seven consecutive games, and 12 total in that span. In the eight previous games, they'd homered just twice . . . Mark Bellhorn may be hitting .221 with 1 HR, 9 RBIs, and 42 strikeouts (one behind Brad Wilkerson for the most in baseball entering last night), but his 12 doubles were two shy of the major league lead. And he was ninth in the majors in pitches per plate appearance at 4.29.
Milestone ahead
Four more appearances and Mike Myers will reach 700, joining a club with only 13 active members. Last night, he passed Seattle closer Eddie Guardado for 14th among active pitchers with 696. ''What's that, 70 innings?" Francona joked, taking a playful shot at his situational lefthander, who often faces just one hitter. Myers, in 11 appearances before last night, had thrown just 63 pitches. That's 5.7 pitches per appearance. He'd yet to be charged with a run in 4{dbcomma} innings, one of only four pitchers in major league baseball with at least 10 appearances who could say that . . . The Sox last night played their 22d road game, tying Cleveland for most in the big leagues . . . A few followup notes on Manny Ramirez's 400th career home run, belted Sunday afternoon in Seattle. On his way to 400, Ramirez homered once every 14.24 at-bats. At 32 years and 351 days, Ramirez was the 13th-youngest player among the 39 to hit 400. Since Harmon Killebrew hit his 400th in 1969, only three players reached 400 before turning 33: Ken Griffey, Sammy Sosa, and Juan Gonzalez . . . No word on the quality of the pitching he's facing, but John Olerud, in his second extended spring game, went 3 for 4 with a home run, double, a walk, three RBIs, and two runs in a 6-3 win over Pittsburgh's extended spring team.
