A slippery outing for Delcarmen

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The last thing the Red Sox need is another injury to a pitcher, and for a while it appeared Manny Delcarmen, who was escorted off the field by trainer Paul Lessard in the seventh inning of yesterday's 7-4 rain-shortened win over Baltimore, was the latest to join the list.

Delcarmen fielded a ball, turned, planted his feet, and threw off-balance to second base. But as he threw, he slipped on the wet field, then went down to one knee. Lessard came out, as did manager Terry Francona. Delcarmen walked off the field, appearing to be fine. Afterward, he had an ice pack on his right knee.

"I just slipped a little bit on the mound," he said. "I have a little bit of tendinitis on my knees anyway, so any time I slip, it might flare it up a little bit, but I'm good. They probably won't let me throw for a couple of days."

Right after Delcarmen's injury, the Sox called in lefthander Craig Breslow, but play was halted and never resumed.

Delcarmen pitched two-thirds of an inning and allowed a run, his ERA rising to 1.35, but he threw 94 miles per hour and had command of his fastball.

Jonathan Papelbon struck out two in his inning.

Showing some clout

Manny Ramírez's stroke appears to be back. He hit a bomb to left field estimated at 450 feet off Orioles righthander Jon Leicester in the first inning.

"He is in a good place," said Francona. "He seems very comfortable in his own skin."

Any concerns about whether Ramírez might have lost something based on last season?

"Zero," said Francona. "He's one of the best hitters I've ever seen and I would think that would continue as long as he wants it to. He's in great shape. That ball he hit today, you don't see many hitters go down and get the ball. He doesn't cheat to get to balls. He didn't lunge. That's impressive. He's one of the most intelligent hitters you'll ever see."

Ramírez took over the locker that had belonged to Doug Mirabelli, who was released Thursday. The locker has extra space for a catcher's gear.

Crisp improving

Coco Crisp (groin) took part in a full workout, tracking down fly balls in the outfield and taking batting practice righthanded.

Crisp feels he's turning the corner, but whether he can make the trip to Japan remains up in the air, even though he said he would like to.

"The last couple of days I've felt better and I felt I could do a lot more today," he said. "I just have to be patient with the sprinting. I haven't gotten to the sprinting part of it yet. I don't want to do that yet and restart [the injury]. But I ran out there pretty fast. I could probably beat you guys [reporters] in a race right now. It's coming along. I'm happy with the progress."

Asked if he was frustrated because other teams have expressed interest in him but a deal can't be made because he hasn't been healthy, Crisp said, "I really don't think about too many things that could happen. I don't think about them on a day-to-day basis. Like I said, it's a terrible feeling not to be out there with my teammates. Like showcasing myself, I don't even worry about that. I'm here and hopefully people believe in what I can do. I have to go out there, I guess, and re-show in a way. So, hopefully, I'll be ready for the season, wherever I end up."

Cashing in

Kevin Cash graciously accepted his role as Jason Varitek's primary backup. "I was very happy, but at the same time it's a rough day for everybody because of the relationships Doug has with a lot of these players on this team," said Cash. "He's very well liked and very well respected. That goes from my standpoint, too. At the same time, it is a business, so it's a career opportunity for me." Cash said he "had an agreement" with the Red Sox at the start of camp. "They said, come into camp and see where it goes from there," he said. "They've been upfront and honest with me. No promises or no guarantees or anything, but they told me, you will have opportunities." He has caught Tim Wakefield, who while being loyal to Mirabelli told Sox management he felt Cash could handle his knuckleball . . . Team president Larry Lucchino said the Red Sox negotiated the time change for the April 2 game in Oakland (from 10:35 p.m. EDT to 3:35 p.m.) as part of their deal to make the trip to Japan. The A's aren't happy with the change because tickets were sold in anticipation of a night game, and their television network was hoping for big ratings in prime time. The Sox are off April 3, and start a weekend series in Toronto April 4 . . . Bobby Kielty (calf) took batting practice and seems to be improving . . . Julio Lugo (sore back) will try to play in today's game against Cincinnati.