Snow no longer in forecast

The call, which came yesterday, could not have been entirely surprising to J.T. Snow. Of anyone, he was most aware of the truth of his stint with the Red Sox: Though he might have been needed once, he was no longer quite so useful. And rusting away in the clubhouse and the dugout wasn't exactly what he had planned on when he signed with Boston in the offseason.

So when the team had to remove someone from the roster to make room for last night's starter, Kyle Snyder, it made sense that it was Snow.

Brought in as insurance for Kevin Youkilis's conversion from third base to first base, Snow was thought to be primed for late-inning defensive replacement duty, spot starts, and pinch hitting. But with Youkilis more than capable at first and the rejuvenated Mike Lowell having a stellar season on offense and defense at third, Snow was expendable.

``Youkilis jumped in and grabbed the job," said manager Terry Francona. ``Youk's done everything we hoped he would do. Does it affect J.T. in a negative way for himself? Yeah, it made it harder for him. As far as our team goes, this kid's done a great job and that's good. In our situation, you try to care about people and how it affects them, but our goal is to win games. I think you can do both. I think you can still care but do what is right for the ball club."

Halfway through May, Snow and his agent made known his desire for a trade. And though Snow was designated for assignment yesterday, general manager Theo Epstein indicated that the team has plans in the works for Snow.

Snow had just three at-bats over the just-completed road trip and hadn't started a game for the Sox since the second half of the June 11 doubleheader, which was only the third time he was written into the lineup since April 22.

There was some good news and some bad news for the beleaguered pitching staff. Matt Clement saw a specialist, who pronounced his pitching arm structurally sound. But David Wells, the other starter on the disabled list, doesn't seem to be making the strides the club would like. None of the information, however, brought anyone closer to determining a return date for either pitcher.

In the case of Clement, by comparing a recent MRI with one from his stint with the Cubs, the specialist determined that there was no damage, even though Clement has recently suffered from a ``dead arm" and cramps in his biceps. The feelings of soreness and achiness have been with the pitcher all season, only letting up for the first six batters of his start on May 24. The seventh batter? Bernie Williams, who lined a rocket off Clement's right ankle.

``Unfortunately, it's been a weird year," said Clement, who added that he might start playing catch today or tomorrow. ``Maybe I was changing to get through getting hit in the leg, the asthma, and everything else."

Wells remains in San Diego, without imminent plans to return to Boston. With little improvement on the deep bone contusion to his right knee, he's still severely limited in what he can do.

``He's not to the point yet where weight-bearing activities on the knee are coming easy to him," Epstein said. ``Until it gets to that point, you don't really want him going through his delivery because he can end up hurting his arm. Once he gets to that point, we'll get him back here and get his arm strength [back]."

Lenny DiNardo, who has been on the DL since May 24 with a neck strain, was to throw his first bullpen session yesterday. Feeling better from a cortisone shot June 6, DiNardo said he's been progressing, calling his neck ``light-years ahead of when the team left." DiNardo, who estimated he would get about 35 pitches in, said whenever he put his neck back or to the left, pain would shoot through his scapula and down into his shoulder, resulting in numbness and tingling in his pitching hand . . . Wily Mo Peña did ``everything" on the field yesterday, including catching fly balls in center field and working in the batting cage. Recovering from June 1 surgery on his left hand, Peña already had put his return date after the All-Star break before the stitches were removed last week. He said he's still on target for mid-July, and expects to be taking live batting practice by the end of the homestand . . . Snyder became the ninth pitcher to start a game for the Sox this season; they started 10 pitchers in all of 2005.

After pitching a scoreless inning in relief, Jermaine Van Buren was returned to Triple A Pawtucket so the club could bring Craig Hansen back to Boston. Van Buren, who lowered his ERA from 9.64 to 8.71, appears to be spending the season on the Youkilis shuttle between Boston and Rhode Island. ``I'm very confident he will be back and help us, we just needed to make the roster move," Francona said . . . Clubhouse favorite Gabe Kapler was greeted with two standing ovations in his return to Fenway Park after nine months rehabbing a ruptured left Achilles' tendon. After the game, he got some of Francona's highest praise. ``I was proud of our fans," the manager said. ``Gabe's a pro's pro and he's a Red Sox to boot. It's not just the fans. It's me, the coaches, the players, the front office. He's everything you want in a player and a human being." Kapler added, ``These fans are continually supporting me. I'm so appreciative they're so classy and have taken such good care of me over the last couple years. It does mean a lot to me." . . . The Sox are now 6-1 in interleague play this season, and have won 15 of their last 17 interleague games since June 12, 2005 . . . Manny Ramírez's eighth-inning home run was the 453d of his career. The shot was Ramírez's fourth homer in his last nine games, in which he has just five hits total.

IMAGES AND INFO For a gallery of photos from last night's game and news updates heading into tonight's Red Sox-Nationals contest, go to www.boston.com/redsox (use photo or ampersand icon)