Ortiz is nearing a return

CLEVELAND -- If the slide Friday night that strained his left shoulder taught David Ortiz nothing else, it seems to finally have taught him this: Don't run on Jermaine Dye.

Between laughter and the admission that there's still a little pain in the shoulder, Ortiz revealed that running on Dye has been hazardous to his health multiple times. Back in 2001, when he was a member of the Twins, Ortiz tried to score from second base on a throw from then-Royal Dye. Out by quite a bit, he also broke his wrist on the play (though he hit a home run in his next at-bat, even with the injury).

Then there was Friday night, when Ortiz flopped into second, thrown out again, and sustained the shoulder injury. And despite missing three straight games against the White Sox and Indians, there appears to be a return date in sight.

"He's doing really well," manager Terry Francona said yesterday. "A lot of improvement today, which is great news. I think we're on maybe [tomorrow] to start a game. We'll see. He's doing real well. Range of motion is drastically improved."

Ortiz, though, said he would have to judge how the shoulder feels after hitting on the field, which he is scheduled to do today.

"Every day I feel better," Ortiz said. "Like the first day after I went down sick, I thought I wasn't going to play this year again. That's how bad it felt. But [members of the training staff] know pretty much how to deal with it."

Ortiz also said a similar injury to his right shoulder, which occurred in 2004, still bothers him at times.

Joel Piñeiro was officially designated for assignment with Jon Lester's addition to the roster. After not wanting to fully discuss the move when it was announced Sunday, Francona went into the reasons behind the choice to cut ties with the reliever, whom they have 10 days to trade, place on waivers, or release.

"It wasn't a very fun decision," Francona said. "Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions based on how your bullpen is set up, always thinking if something happens down the road you don't want to get caught short. I think we have some righthanded arms now with [Julian ] Tavarez going out there. Weren't real comfortable losing a lefthanded arm. It was a difficult move we felt like we needed to make."

Because Tavarez has been stretched out as a starter, he can throw long relief. And his return to the pen meant there would be an odd man out.

"We tried to tell Joel this yesterday: 'It's not really your fault,' " Francona said. "The way we use people, try to win, sometimes guys are used a little inconsistent or maybe they don't get to show what they have on a consistent basis. We acknowledge that. It doesn't mean this guy can't pitch."

Manny Delcarmen didn't think he would be pitching last night, with his disaster of an outing the day before. After allowing two runs -- one his own, one inherited -- Sunday, the last thing Delcarmen was expecting last night was his first major league save.

"I really didn't even know until we got in [the clubhouse]," Delcarmen said. "The guys were like, 'You got the save!' "

Delcarmen entered to get the last out of the eighth inning, striking out Ryan Garko with Casey Blake on first base. But even though the Sox scored an additional run in the ninth for a four-run lead, Delcarmen still qualified for the save.

With righthander Jake Westbrook on the mound for the Indians, Coco Crisp returned to the leadoff spot, where Julio Lugo had hit the prior two games. But the first spot might become a bit of a platoon as Francona mixes and matches, especially with Ortiz out.

"I'm trying to get balance," he said. "Depending on who we have available, when we face lefties, I think Lugo might lead off for now. Such drastic on-base [percentage shifts] between lefties and righties."

Lugo had a .382 OBP in 83 at-bats against lefthanders and a .257 OBP in 259 at-bats against righthanders entering last night. Crisp went 4 for 5 with three runs. Lugo was 1 for 4, extending his hitting streak to 13 games. That's one shy of his career high.

Francona reacted to the news that Double A Tulsa Drillers (Rockies) hitting coach Mike Coolbaugh died Sunday after being struck in the head with a line drive while standing in the first base coach's box. The manager said that, while he was coaching third base, the only batter who really scared him was Cecil Fielder. "I don't think I ever worried," Francona said. "I think I should have. Lot of close calls." Ron Johnson, the Pawtucket manager, also was struck by a batted ball this season. He was hit in the gut by a line drive from Jeff Bailey while coaching third in a game in Scranton in early May . . . It was Crisp's first trip back to Cleveland since being traded. Manny Ramírez spent seven full seasons with the Indians and still ranks second in career home runs at Jacobs Field with 129. Jim Thome is first with 179. The pair is also 1-2 in RBIs. Ramírez had two RBIs to pass Jake Beckley for 35th place all time with 1,576. Next in line is Al Kaline, with 1,583 . . . With three scoreless innings last night, the Sox bullpen has a 1.42 ERA over its last 19 innings.

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.