Matsuzaka might make it

The Red Sox are now hopeful that Daisuke Matsuzaka will be available to pitch in Japan, manager Terry Francona said yesterday, though he stressed that the birth of Matsuzaka's second child still takes precedence.

Francona said the child is due March 19, the day the club is scheduled to leave for Japan. Matsuzaka is expected to return to Boston, but then could join the team in time for the opening two-game series against Oakland March 25-26 in Tokyo. Francona did not indicate whether Matsuzaka's wife, Tomoyo, is planning to have labor induced.

"I think we're hopeful that he'll be able to pitch over there," Francona said, "but at the same time recognizing if any little thing doesn't go right, he not only has our permission, but hey, do what you've got to do.

"If it works out and there are not complications, he can come over. [But] he has our blessings to have a baby first."

The Sox would like to use Josh Beckett and Matsuzaka in the first two games against the Athletics, then come back with the same pair in Oakland April 1-2.

Deal closed

Even though the Sox rebuffed his attempt at matching Phillies slugger Ryan Howard for highest one-year deal for a player with fewer than three years' experience, Jonathan Papelbon said you've "got to pick and choose your battles," not that he had much recourse. Papelbon signed a one-year deal Thursday for $775,000 ($25,000 more if he makes the All-Star team), less than the $900,000 Howard got in 2007, but still the highest one-year deal for a reliever with his service time. "I think the Red Sox were fair and I felt like I was fair," Papelbon said.

The big money starts next year, when Papelbon is eligible for salary arbitration, assuming he stays healthy and has another big year. Howard, for example, vaulted to $10 million this season.

There's also the possibility the Sox will revisit a multiyear deal with Papelbon. "I think they will," Papelbon said, "but to be dead honest, I don't think I will, unless it's something very inviting."

One comparative is Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. When he was at Papelbon's service level, in 1998, he signed for $750,000 (which in 1998 dollars is more than what Papelbon received), then went to $7.25 million the following season, when he lost in arbitration (he had asked for $9.25 million). In 2000, Rivera signed a four-year, $39.99 million deal with the Yankees.

Hits and misses

Rookie Clay Buchholz was taken deep on consecutive pitches by Justin Morneau (two-run homer) and Craig Monroe of the Twins in the first inning of a 7-2 loss to Minnesota in City of Palms Park. Buchholz recovered to retire the last seven batters he faced in a three-inning stint in which he struck out three and did not allow a ball out of the infield the last two innings. "I think he has great stuff, and I think he's learning, even if it's spring training, that if you make a mistake with major league hitters, they make you pay a price, and maybe that's a good thing," said Francona. Buchholz hit Denard Span with his first pitch of the afternoon. He got two quick outs, then got ahead of Morneau with a fastball on his hands and a foul ball. But he left a changeup up, which Morneau pounded over the right-field fence, and Monroe hit the next pitch, a high fastball, over the left-field fence. When Buchholz wasn't making mistakes high, his stuff was terrific. He said afterward that pitching coach John Farrell is working with him on modifying his leg kick . . . Francona said shortstop Julio Lugo will be held out of action until at least Monday, when he will be reexamined for tightness in his back. Coco Crisp (groin) took batting practice but did not play, and is not expected to play today, when Beckett faces his former team, the Marlins, at City of Palms . . . The Sox' simulated game will start at 9:30 this morning. Michael Bowden and David Pauley are scheduled to throw three innings apiece . . . Lefthander Javier Lopez has been shaky in back-to-back outings. He walked the first batter he faced, had a base stolen on him, gave up an RBI single, and also threw a wild pitch . . . Francisco Liriano of the Twins pitched in a game for the first time in more than a year after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery. He walked David Ortiz with two outs in the first, then came out in the second after singles by Sean Casey and Keith Ginter, having reached a 40-pitch limit.

Not worth the trip

Across the state from where the coveted Mayor's Cup was being contested, the moribund Orioles pummeled the Brad Mills All-Stars, 12-2, at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. Julian Tavarez was working on a shutout in the third when the Orioles knocked him out with three consecutive two-out hits. Old friend Kevin Millar KO'd Tavarez with an RBI single, then Aubrey Huff greeted reliever Kyle Snyder with a two-run blast over the bleachers in right. Tavarez and Snyder combined to surrender nine hits and nine runs in less than six innings. Both had to be lifted mid-inning to stop the bleeding. The Sox scored their runs against the Orioles in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Mike Lowell and a single to center by Brandon Moss (three hits). Jacoby Ellsbury played 5 1/2 innings and went 0 for 4 . . . The Sox fly across the state tomorrow to play the Dodgers in Vero Beach. Matsuzaka gets the start. It'll be Jon Lester vs. the Mets' Johan Santana Monday in Port St. Lucie. Two guys who could have been traded for one another.

Edes reported from Fort Myers, Fla., Shaughnessy from Fort Lauderdale.