Francona will sleep on it

He feels Beckett can work Tuesday

BALTIMORE - While Josh Beckett was arguing that he should be allowed to resume throwing yesterday, or at the latest today, the Red Sox seem to have tomorrow in mind. At least assistant trainer Mike Reinold is targeting that day, which would allow Beckett to start Tuesday against the Yankees.

Asked if Beckett would indeed start then, manager Terry Francona said, "Yeah, I think so. I guess the one thing we haven't done is we haven't let him throw. But if he's not [ready Tuesday], we won't pitch him. We'll back him up a couple more days. That's how it goes. I don't think that's going to happen. But if it did, we'd just back him up, and I told him that. The important thing for us is to pitch him when he's ready to pitch, not just because his day comes up."

Beckett had said Tuesday that numbness in his right pinky and ring fingers - which prompted the Sox to push back his next start from Saturday - was still present. But Francona said yesterday Beckett has gotten a lot better since he felt the symptoms Sunday, when he was shelled for eight runs in 2 1/3 innings by the Blue Jays. There remains "tingling in one finger," Francona said, but not nearly as bad as it had been.

Francona reiterated that the problem is not a blood clot or an aneurysm, as had been reported by one news outlet, and also that Beckett will not be sent for tests at this point.

"There's really not a reason," Francona said. "He slept on it. We've all probably done it to some extent, whether it's your back [or elbow] - you wake up and if you have some inflammation, and then you go out and pitch. I think we're a little bit hesitant to let a guy pitch and put him at risk. We don't want to do that. So that's kind of where we're at. So if there are some symptoms, we've held him back. That's basically what it is."

Francona said the Sox still believe that the way Beckett slept Saturday night affected his arm, even though it's been a problem the team has been monitoring for some time, according to the pitcher.

"I think through doing some homework, they kind of came to the conclusion that this is what had been happening, to the point where I think we got a lot more comfortable with the explanation," Francona said. "But still, at the same time, we're not going to pitch him till he's symptom-free. We wouldn't do that."

Wakefield close

It appears Tim Wakefield will need just one more side session before returning from the disabled list. The knuckleballer threw 44 pitches yesterday, and the plan is for him to throw another side session Saturday.

There is no scheduled date for him to pitch in a game, given the multiple factors (days off, Beckett's health) that could affect when he next sees action. There is room to "maneuver this and manipulate it," Francona said. Francona said he wouldn't rule Wakefield out for the series in New York, but also said the team does not want to rush him back from right shoulder problems.

The best part right now, Wakefield said, is that he's "pain-free." And to keep him that way, the training staff has made him "cut down on my work, upper-body stuff," Wakefield said. "Just extra stretching and maintaining my treatment right now."

0-for-Baltimore

J.D. Drew didn't play for the third straight game, missing the entire series with tightness in his lower back. Though he was feeling better, Francona elected to keep Drew out of the lineup since he hadn't participated in baseball activities for three days. The plan was for him to take batting practice and likely be back in the lineup tomorrow in Toronto . . . Jeff Bailey got the start at first base, with Kevin Youkilis moving across the diamond to third . . . Mike Lowell (oblique) will not join the team in Toronto; he'll stay home in Miami and meet the Sox in New York next week . . . Francona said he talked to George Sherrill, the Orioles closer who went on the disabled list Tuesday. After using Sherrill for 2 1/3 innings in the All-Star Game, Francona had spoken to Orioles president Andy MacPhail and pitching coach Rick Kranitz. "I don't think we were disrespectful or ignorant of him; I do understand that now he's on the DL," Francona said. "That's why I called him. I actually called Andy and their pitching coach the next day [after the All-Star Game] also, because I didn't want them to think we were flippant about their pitchers. I wouldn't want to see a kid go on the DL anyway, and I hope I didn't have something to do with it." . . . With two steals Tuesday, Jacoby Ellsbury set a Sox record for multisteal games in one season with 12. He is second in the major leagues this season, behind the Rockies' Willy Taveras, who has 13. Ellsbury stole third last night, giving him 41 on the season.

Wait and see

The Sox did not immediately fill the roster spot created by the demotion of Clay Buchholz to Portland. They'll call up a player for the weekend series in Toronto . . . The loss was Buchholz's seventh straight, the longest skid for a Sox pitcher since Frank Castillo had eight from June 19 to Sept. 16, 2002 . . . Had Alex Cora pitched, he would have been the first position player to take the mound for the Sox since Dave McCarty made three relief appearances in 2004. Francona called it a "tough decision" to leave Hideki Okajima in since the Sox were down five runs at that point, but the manager felt they had a chance to come back after getting three hits and one run in the eighth . . . Melvin Mora got an extra base in the third inning on a walk to Luke Scott. Kevin Cash held the ball, thinking time had been called, as he tried to give it to home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez. When Marquez didn't call time, Mora continued on to third. He scored on Ramon Hernandez's home run off David Aardsma . . . Jason Bay hit his third home run of the series, a solo shot in the fifth.