NEW YORK - Kevin Youkilis's injury has been described as both an oblique issue and side tenderness, and has been attributed to both a hit-by-pitch and an unknown source.
The one certainty yesterday was that it kept Youkilis from playing against the Yankees, after having been removed from Monday night's game after the sixth inning.
"I think it's just because I didn't have enough time [Monday] night," Youkilis said of the quick turnaround from rain delay to first pitch.
"Hopefully it'll be all right. The trainers want to hold me off. It's just really tight today and they don't want me to play and aggravate it more."
Youkilis insisted the injury did not occur on a hit-by-pitch last week, as manager Terry Francona repeatedly said. Instead, he said, it happened well before that, and he has been playing through it. He wasn't sure when it occurred, offering only "a couple weeks ago."
He added that the tightness was in his left side, not in his left back, as had been reported by the club Monday night.
His frustration, though, seemed to be directed at having to get ready quickly for the start of Monday's game. The Sox and Yankees didn't have the traditional 40-45 minutes of warning before the tarp came off. Youkilis winced in his final at-bat of the game - an eventual called strikeout in the fourth inning.
"It would be nice to have a little more time, especially when it's pouring rain when you're coming up in the first inning," he said.
Youkilis hopes to be healed enough to play tonight against Cleveland but he wasn't sure.
Francona said, "We'll continue to monitor him, let him get treatment today. He bounced back so well the last time."
Daily grind
Despite remaining perfect on the season in saves,
Jonathan Papelbon has had difficulty in virtually all of his outings. His WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) is a not-so-hot 1.42, far above his last three seasons (0.78, 0.77. 0.95).
He acknowledged yesterday that in many of his outings he's had to "grind it out" after making some adjustments to his mechanics since spring training.
"I feel like I'm steadily climbing that hill, steadily doing what I need to do to get better," he said.
Francona had Papelbon contribute a five-out save Monday, his longest outing since he threw two full innings Aug. 24 of last season.
"I thought last night the ball had tremendous finish," Francona said. "There's times like last night, OK, pick your poison. Because of the speed they had on the bases, we had to make a decision on how aggressive we are in holding them, do you open up a hole? Do you have him slide step and let somebody hit one in the upper deck if he happens to throw a flat fastball or a split?
"I thought he handled himself pretty well."
Baldelli feels ready
Rocco Baldelli played his second rehab game with Triple A Pawtucket last night, and afterward he said he could return as early as today, the first day he's eligible to come off the DL, if the Sox asked him to. As the DH, Baldelli went 0 for 4, was hit by a pitch, and scored a run. Though he's 0 for 7 with a run and an RBI in two days, Baldelli feels ready to play in Boston.
"I feel good physically," he said. "I don't have maybe the timing I would like to at the plate, but I feel fine. It's been a little while since I've seen a pitch. Normally it doesn't take me too long to come back. I've come back off of little breaks like that before. I would have liked to swing the bat a little better, but besides that I felt good."
Adhering to tradition, Baldelli also provided Pawtucket's postgame meal. He bought steaks and lobster macaroni and cheese from The Capital Grille. "He's a pleasure to be around," manager Ron Johnson said. "What a pro."
Ellsbury ailing
Jacoby Ellsbury was replaced in center field by
Jonathan Van Every before the bottom of the fourth, leaving with a tight right hamstring. "It's better than it was," Ellsbury said. "It got real tight. It kind of went into a spasm. At that point, it was definitely best to come out and give it a break." Ellsbury had stolen second base in the first inning, and when he dove for a ball, that "didn't help at all." But it was worse on the base paths. "When I stole the base, it got real tight," he said. "It was so tight that it kind of made a little tremble. It's feeling a lot better now. Ice it up, got some treatment on it. I feel as best I can, given what happened." Ellsbury will be reevaluated before tonight's game against the Indians . . . With Youkilis out of the lineup, Francona switched around his batting order, putting
Jason Bay in the fourth spot, followed by
Mike Lowell and
J.D. Drew. The manager said the swap was because of
Joba Chamberlain's success against lefthanders with his cutter . . .
Ramon Ramirez allowed his first run of the season Monday night on a homer by
Mark Teixeira. But Francona said, "If you're going to give up a run, you're up three and you throw a first-pitch fastball. Never complain about [that]. We want guys to pound the strike zone." . . .
Mark Kotsay is still tender in the calf he injured Sunday. He got worked on at Fenway yesterday, and will be reevaluated today.
Things that go bump
With a tripleheader of Boston sports tonight, the Sox-Indians game has been moved to NESN Plus and WRKO (680). The Bruins-Hurricanes playoff game is on NESN, and the Celtics-Magic playoff game is on WEEI (850) . . . The Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament no longer will be played at Fenway Park. The ACC moved the 2010 tournament because of the current economic downturn, as the move will lower travel costs, though it still hopes to host a tournament at Fenway at some point . . . The Yankees placed
Jorge Posada on the 15-day DL after he injured his right hamstring sliding Monday night, the same hamstring he injured earlier in the season though he did not go on the DL at that point. "It's tough for me because I worked pretty hard to be here," said Posada. Catcher
Francisco Cervilli was recalled from Double A Trenton to take Posada's spot.
Bat springs to life
Alex Rodriguez hit two homers in extended spring training yesterday in Tampa, playing seven innings in the field for the second straight day. He could rejoin the Yankees as early as Friday in Baltimore. Rodriguez went 3 for 6 and one homer cleared a 40-foot high batter's eye in center . . .
Josh Beckett's outing was far better than his last two, during which he gave up 15 runs over 9 2/3 innings. Beckett got the win last night, allowing three runs in six innings, all on a homer by
Johnny Damon. Asked if he feels he's heading in the right direction, Beckett said, "I definitely gave up less runs today, if that's what you're talking about. That's key to winning ballgames." Catcher
Jason Varitek said of Beckett, "He was better . . . he took good steps today. Really when it was crunch time, he made some pitches. I think that it's just keeping him in his delivery and his command."
Adam Kilgore of the Globe Staff contributed to this report from Pawtucket, R.I.; material from the Associated Press was used. 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
