Foulke still clueless in this novel mystery

A reporter yesterday mentioned to Keith Foulke that his case of elbow tendinitis came out of nowhere.

``No [kidding]," Foulke said. ``Tell me about it."

The only thing more alarming to Foulke than the pain that shot through his elbow June 11 is the fact that he doesn't know when it will go away or when he'll next pick up a baseball. Last week, manager Terry Francona said Foulke would throw when the team returned to Boston, which was two days ago. He can't yet do that.

``Four days ago I couldn't touch my face," Foulke said. ``It's definitely better, but I don't know. I've never dealt with this before. I've never had problems with my arm before."

Foulke injured himself in the second game of the doubleheader vs. Texas a week and a half ago, the last time he pitched, working two innings and allowing a career-high seven hits.

``I felt some serious discomfort after the first inning that last time," he said.

Foulke, despite saying he's never had arm issues, acknowledged feeling some elbow pain last summer while rehabbing following knee surgery. He also experienced some pain about six weeks ago, but ``it was an ache," he said, so he pitched through it.

``Why it happened to the degree it happened the other day, I don't know," he said. ``I don't know a whole lot anymore. It's very frustrating. I swore after last year that I'd never go on the DL again.

``Hopefully, it'll calm down and we can get back and try to make something of the rest of the season. But right now there's a whole lot of I don't know."

Foulke had an MRI eight days ago that showed no structural damage. His description of what's wrong: ``The joint filled up with fluid for some reason. A little impingement in there, triceps tendinitis, whatever it is, here we are. It still hurts to bend it."

Foulke isn't sure how much damage he did June 11 by pitching a second inning. After the initial inning he said, ``I was sitting on the bench, something wasn't right. I went back to the cage, threw a couple. First couple were very painful. It started to let up a bit. Went back out. The way the season's going, I was like, `Well, maybe I'm going to blow it out. Whatever.' "

Why go back out?

``Because, the second game of a doubleheader, the last thing I want to do is tell him my elbow's hurting and I can't go back out for a second inning."

Foulke, 33, holds a $3.75 million player option for next season. The Sox hold a $7.5 million team option with a $1.5 million buyout.

Francona yesterday called in, as a group, 28-year-old lefthander Javy Lopez and rookies Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester, Manny Delcarmen, and Craig Hansen.

``I talked to all of them today," said Francona, ``because I think we're getting to that point where they've been on that shuttle [between Boston and Pawtucket], not a ton, but up and down, and we're getting to the point where we'd like to keep them here if possible. And have them kind of carry some responsibility in that bullpen.

``I just wanted them to understand that I'm actually OK with it and a little bit excited. They just have to pay attention to detail and show the veterans they care about winning. As long as they do that, it has a chance to really work out well."

Papelbon, the mainstay among that young group, is 25. Delcarmen is 24. Hansen and Lester are 22. Lopez is 28 but is new to the team and is in his fourth big-league season.

``I'm really OK with this," Francona said of the youth. ``If I wasn't, I don't think any of these guys would be here."

Papelbon has 23 saves, one shy of Dick Radatz's 1962 club rookie record. The major league rookie record is 37, set in 2000 by Seattle's Kazuhiro Sasaki.

Is the youth movement ahead of schedule?

``Well, it's the 20th of June," Francona said. ``We wanted them to get some baseball under their belts so when they got here they could help. I think we've done a good job of not rushing them despite some tough circumstances."

Mark Loretta's chances of being voted into the All-Star Game appear to be fading. Loretta was 32,269 votes behind Robinson Cano on May 31, 36,190 behind on June 6, and 67,594 behind on June 13. Yesterday, he'd fallen 74,105 votes behind Cano. Jason Varitek leads Jorge Posada by 27,190 votes among catchers. Manny Ramírez has a safe hold on an outfield spot. David Ortiz leads Jason Giambi among first basemen by more than 460,000 votes. Mike Lowell, despite his stellar season, has fewer than half as many votes as Alex Rodriguez, who has piled up nearly 1.4 million votes. Online balloting concludes June 29 at 11:59 p.m. . . . The Sox have invited all members of the 1986 team back to Fenway for a ceremony before next Tuesday's game against the Mets. Oil Can Boyd, Bruce Hurst, Marty Barrett, Wade Boggs, Dwight Evans, Jim Rice, and Joe Morgan all indicated that they will attend. Bill Buckner, according to a Sox spokesman, expressed some interest in attending but said he had a prior commitment with his son in Washington state that day.

The Sox are now 32-4 when their starting pitcher outlasts the other team's starter, the best such mark in the big leagues . . . The Sox have 10 or more hits in seven consecutive games at Fenway and 18 of 20. They're hitting .337 (155 for 460) in 13 home games dating to May 22 . . . The six hits the Sox had in the second inning were a season high for one inning . . . Loretta hadn't knocked in a run in 16 games before driving in three last night. Loretta is hitting .391 (9 for 23) over his last five games . . . Trot Nixon, an on-base machine this season, collected hits in three consecutive innings last night (the second, third, and fourth), and raised his season average to .327 . . . Hansen pitched a scoreless eighth before allowing two runs on three hits in the ninth. His moment to remember: He blew away the Nationals' No. 3 hitter, Jose Guillen, swinging, at a 98-mile-per-hour heater for the second out of the eighth . . . Tim Wakefield lost his shutout in the sixth inning, meaning the Sox remain the only team in the majors without a shutout this year. Their last: a 3-0 win at US Cellular Field in Chicago July 23 of last summer. They have gone 133 games without a team shutout. Last year they blanked an opponent eight times . . . Alex Cora, who started for the fourth time in six games, tied a career high by scoring three runs. He's hitting .380 (19 for 50) in his last 17 games.

Washington's Ryan Zimmerman, picked fourth overall in the draft 12 months ago, went into last night with 46 RBIs and 10 homers, both of which had him on pace to set team rookie records . . . The Sox have an off day tomorrow and another Monday. That will allow Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling to pitch Friday and Saturday, with an additional day of rest. The Sox are then expected to go with a four-man rotation next week, instead of getting each pitcher an extra day of rest. ``As long as they're healthy and willing to do it, I'd like to then keep them on their day [next week]," Francona said. That means Kyle Snyder, Monday's winner, would make his second start no sooner than July 1.

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