Ortiz gives strong impression that he's closer

No, David Ortiz didn't pick up a bat and head to the cage, but at least there was hope that might come sooner rather than later. Even with his absence blunted by the resurgence of J.D. Drew, the Red Sox are waiting anxiously to write Ortiz's name in the lineup for the first time since he tore the tendon sheath in his left wrist May 31.

"David is doing real well," manager Terry Francona said yesterday. "He's doing his strength and conditioning, doing mobility with his wrist. I think there's hope that he may be a week to 10 days from picking up a bat. Very, very limited - when I say pain, he's doing OK. He still knows it's there, but it seems to be getting better every day. He's doing more and more.

"I think he looks good, but at the same time, we don't want to do something too quick, that wouldn't help. Everybody you talk to who's had this, and talking to medical people, it needs to heal. So we're going to let it heal so when he does come back, he can come back and be David and not be limping through his at-bats. We don't need that."

While the team was in Philadelphia this week, medical director Thomas Gill removed the cast from Ortiz's wrist, replacing it with a removable splint. That occurred a day after Francona announced the cast would be left on for a couple of more days.

Still, at that time, on Monday, the manager was unwilling to place a timetable on when Ortiz would resume baseball activities. Clearly, he has made progress since then.

When Ortiz was hurt, doctors conservatively estimated that he might miss a month of baseball activities. He probably will need a rehab stint before returning.

Colon eases loss

While losing Curt Schilling wasn't exactly a welcome development, neither was it devastating, given the Red Sox' expectations for him. And Bartolo Colon makes the loss more palatable, even though he's on the disabled list. "We weren't banking on a full season for him," general manager Theo Epstein said of Schilling. "We had originally approached him about sort of a half-season or third-season plan, and that wasn't something he was interested in. He thought he was capable of pitching a whole season. As it turned out, we didn't get anything from him. But I think because we weren't expecting a full year, I think we were able to weather the storm a little bit more. I think what we're getting and hopefully will continue to get from Bartolo Colon is about what we had hoped for from Curt, a veteran to provide us depth, protect the rotation, and make sure we don't have to rush any of the young guys before they're ready." . . . Coco Crisp (left hand) and Kevin Youkilis (back spasms) were in the lineup last night. Crisp left Wednesday's game in Philadelphia after his first at-bat with discomfort in the hand; Youkilis missed three games. "He's fine and he's ready to go," Francona said of Crisp. "I think Coco thought after he came out of the game the other day, once he iced it, that he was OK. Sometimes we get a little protective of our guys, which is OK." Before the injury, Crisp had hit home runs in three straight games, the longest such stretch of his career. Youkilis was 7 for 14 with two doubles and two home runs over his last four games.

Rain on their parade

Yesterday was a celebration of the Celtics' championship, as evidenced by the Celtics hat atop Epstein's head. A shamrock was mowed into the grass in center field and the Red Sox wore green uniform tops. But just as the tribute to the Celtics began on the center-field scoreboard, it started pouring. The tarp was rolled onto the field as the Celtics came into Fenway Park on duck boats along the warning track in front of the Green Monster. The team got soaked while standing on the back of the boats with the trophy . . . The Red Sox agreed to terms with four draft picks. Their first of two selections in the third round, Stephen Fife of the University of Utah, and eighth-round pick, Oklahoma City University's Michael Lee, were the most notable. Both are righthanded pitchers. Fife went 7-5 with a 3.75 ERA in 15 starts this season. Outfielders Bryan Peterson (11th round) from West Valley High in Spokane, Wash., and Tyler Yockey (14th round) from Acadiana High in Duson, La., brought the total to 15 signees. Fife and Lee will head to Single A Lowell, Peterson and Yockey to the rookie league Gulf Coast Red Sox . . . Billy Werber, a Sox third baseman from 1933-36, turned 100 yesterday. He's the oldest living former major leaguer.

All systems go

Francona said he didn't expect Daisuke Matsuzaka to have too many limitations today in his first start since he left a game against Seattle May 27 with a mild rotator cuff strain. "Lot of it's going to depend on how tough innings are for him," Francona said. "Hopefully, he'll stay out there for a while. He wasn't down a whole long time. I don't think that's going to be a big issue." . . . The Cardinals' Cesar Izturis left the game in the fourth inning with a right hamstring strain . . . Last night was the first time Tim Wakefield had allowed more than two runs since he gave up eight to Oakland May 23 . . . Julio Lugo's home run drought of 69 games was the third longest of his career. The longest was 97 games in 2001-02 . . . Kevin Cash ended an 0-for-17 slump with a single in the fifth. His last hit had been at Baltimore June 2. It also ended an 0-for-33 slump by Sox catchers, with Jason Varitek at 0 for 16.