A crisp BP session could lead to return

Coco Crisp took what Red Sox manager Terry Francona thought were good swings in the batting cage yesterday and Francona said after last night's game he thinks Crisp will play in center field tonight.

That might not be music to the ears of Sox fans, who received quite a glimpse of what Jacoby Ellsbury can do with his elite speed in last night's 7-3 win over the Rangers. He reached base four times, stole second, and scored from there on a wild pitch. Crisp, who has been nursing a sore or sprained left thumb, has made a quick recovery, however.

"He actually did great in BP," Francona said of Crisp, who has missed the last three games with the thumb injury sustained while diving for a ball Wednesday in Seattle. "He actually felt that he swung the bat well from both sides.

"I think he'll play [tonight]. I told Coco I'd call him in the morning just to make sure he came through because we don't want to do something we shouldn't do. We were kind of confused on how long he was going to miss. When he showed up a little sore, we got worried, but the last couple of days he's really bounced back well."

Even with Crisp ready it does not appear Ellsbury will be demoted. The Sox appear to have enough pitching to get them through the All-Star break and they have three hurlers -- Curt Schilling, Brendan Donnelly, and Joel Pineiro -- who likely won't be ready to return until after the break.

Crisp had been hitting .368 in his last 18 games, with three homers and six RBIs in his last nine games before the injury. Crisp said the thumb felt better last night.

The Sox would love to acquire someone to help their offense, but like many other teams, their focus will be more on pitching.

One major league official said last night the Sox will be one of a few major players for Houston reliever Brad Lidge if the Astros decide they're out of contention. But therein lies the problem; when would Lidge be available? The Astros are 36-47 and 12 1/2 games out in the National League Central, but they've made second-half runs before. The other issue is whether they even would move Lidge if they were out of it.

"That's what all of baseball is waiting for," said the official. "There are a few of us who will be in [the bidding for Lidge]. I know Boston and Detroit are two that will go after him hard."

Lidge, who had a strained oblique, is scheduled to come off the disabled list this week.

The Red Sox were big players for White Sox lefthander Mark Buerhle last week, but according to a team source Chicago wanted front-line prospects Clay Buchholz and Ellsbury, and Boston made it clear it wouldn't part with them. The White Sox found similar roadblocks with the Mets, Dodgers, and Cardinals, but with a talked-about Buerhle contract extension now being held up over a no-trade clause, the White Sox may be shopping him again and may be willing to take less.

The Red Sox are hoping they can move reliever Manny Delcarmen into a more important role. They liked what they saw Friday night when Delcarmen struck out Sammy Sosa with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. He was throwing in the 95-97 mile per hour range against Sosa after he walked Michael Young, following orders to be careful with the Rangers' All-Star shortstop.

There still is no definitive timetable on Donnelly's return. He went on the disabled list June 17 with a strained right forearm and has been throwing recently.

Schilling made about 35 throws yesterday, the first time he had picked up a baseball since going on the disabled list June 22 (retroactive to June 19) with right shoulder tendinitis. Schilling will toss several more times before going on a more advanced throwing program that will take him until after the break.

It's perhaps a testament to his toughness, but Kevin Youkilis finally was told to sit out last night to rest a strained left quadriceps, an injury he said he's had for about two weeks. Youkilis said he will be in the lineup tonight, but the medical staff might not let that happen. Youkilis wanted to play last night, and he was in the original lineup as the No. 5 hitter, but after he met with the team medical director, Dr. Thomas Gill, he was told he should rest. Youkilis has no idea how the injury happened . . . Francona was a bench coach for recently deposed Reds manager Jerry Narron in 2002 while with the Rangers. Francona said he hadn't yet spoken with Narron, who is a good friend . . . Francona said he had a chat with David Ortiz, and hoped the talk would relax Ortiz, who appears to be pressing at the plate. "I think he does feel responsible," said Francona. "He's raised the bar so off the charts [for clutch hitting] that sometimes he can't match it himself. You go through periods because we're not scoring runs in bunches, it's more glaring when we leave runners on. We all know that, but sometimes even the best players need to be reassured of that. You need to be told, 'You are good, don't put the weight of the world on your shoulders with every at-bat.' David is a very good listener. For one of the better players in the game of baseball, he's one of the most coachable guys I've ever seen."

Francona doesn't have any concerns about how Josh Beckett may be used in the All-Star Game. "If we have some concerns going in, [AL manager] Jimmy [Leyland] is about as good as there is," said Francona, who added that when he managed the AL All-Star team in 2005 he heard from a few skippers who had specific instructions on certain players. On whether he would lobby for Beckett to start the game, Francona said, "That's a call that I have no business making. I can be a cheerleader, but that's all that there is. I certainly understand who else is out there and what they've done and I certainly respect that. If it happens, I would love it." Francona said the game being in San Francisco "is going to be a tough thing for these guys" travel-wise. "In my limited experience with the All-Star Game, it's not relaxing," he said. "It's an honor and all that, but it's not even close to relaxing. These guys get hit with a lot of stuff. Like the home run hitting contest. I was amazed at what it took out of the guys." Francona said he believed Manny Ramírez would play in the game . . . As of yesterday afternoon, Hideki Okajima trailed leading vote-getter Jeremy Bonderman of the Tigers for the final spot on the All-Star team on Internet voting at MLB.com. Bonderman had a slight lead over Okajima, with Pat Neshek of the Twins, Kelvim Escobar of the Angels, and Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays following. The on-line voting continues until 6 p.m. Thursday . . . The Sox announced an extension of their player development contract with the Portland Sea Dogs for four years, through the 2012 season . . . With Storrow and Memorial drives closed at times today and tomorrow because of Independence Day activities on the Esplanade, the Sox advised fans to seek alternate routes or use public transportation . . . Before the game the Sox, in conjunction with the city of Boston and the town of Lenox, presented an ambulance to the Dominican Republic community of Haina, the hometown of Ortiz. Haina had had no ambulance service for its more than 140,000 residents.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.