Boston Red Sox News

BOSTON (AP) _ Jon Lester is slated to return to the mound for the Boston Red Sox on Monday, nearly a year after his rookie season was cut short when he was diagnosed with cancer. Lester was scheduled to replace Julian Tavarez for Monday's game at Cleveland, the 23-year-old left-hander's first major league appearance since he beat the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 23 last year. The Red Sox said nine days later that he had ...

NEW YORK (AP) _ Everyone in pinstripes insists Mariano Rivera is still a safe bet, even after a rough start this season. Perhaps he can prove it when the Red Sox return to town. Boston usually presents the biggest challenge for the Yankees' star closer, and the AL East-leading Red Sox open a three-game series in New York on Monday night that could provide answers to some key questions about Rivera _ if he gets a ...

It took the Boston Red Sox five weeks to work out a deal with J.D. Drew and seven more to get the agreement on paper, and they still haven't added him to their roster. There's no holdup, the team said Friday. The club announced the US$70 million deal on Jan. 26, seven weeks after preliminary agreement was reached, but Drew's deal still hasn't been technically finalized. ``It is not uncommon ...

The Boston Red Sox are still looking for a closer, even though they have one who was among baseball's best in 2006. Jonathan Papelbon saved 35 games in 41 tries last year and was the runner-up for AL rookie of the year despite ending his season early with a shoulder injury. Now he's getting ready to pitch again _ as a member of the Red Sox starting rotation. ``I want ...

The US$51.11 million the Red Sox offered for the rights to Daisuke Matsuzaka was enough to get the Japanese ace across the Pacific Ocean. It took that much again, and a little more, to fly him the rest of the way to Boston. Bridging the economic gap in the most expensive cultural exchange in baseball history, the Red Sox reached a preliminary agreement Wednesday with Matsuzaka on a $52 million, ...

Boston Red Sox starter Curt Schilling and pitching coach John Farrell are learning Japanese so they will be able to talk to Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima. Jason Varitek is more worried about learning how to catch them. ``All of them always seem to understand something we all have in common, the baseball knowledge,'' Varitek said Saturday, noting that he caught Mac Suzuki when he was with the Mariners and Hideo Nomo and Tomo Ohka in Boston. ...

Manny Ramirez should stay with the Boston Red Sox, teammate and fellow Dominican slugger David Ortiz said Thursday. Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein said earlier in the day the team would talk about trading the disgruntled outfielder during baseball's winter meetings in Florida. Speaking at the Red Sox Academy near Santo Domingo, Ortiz said he hoped there weren't really plans to do so. ``I hope not, you know. Manny ...

The Boston Red Sox found themselves with a little extra time this October, and they wanted to use it well. So general manager Theo Epstein set out to project how baseball's off-season would go _ staging mock general manager and winter meetings, complete with members of the team's front office playing the role of agents and opposing GMs. ``We didn't make the playoffs this year, so we had more time ...

The Red Sox aren't waiting until they get to Florida next week to start plugging the holes in their roster. ``We might have something done before the winter meetings with one free agent,'' general manager Theo Epstein said. Although Epstein declined to identify the player, the Red Sox are known to be pursuing former Dodgers outfielder J.D. Drew. Drew's agent, Scott Boras, has said he expects to wrap up negotiations ...

The Red Sox have made an offer to pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka that Boston president Larry Lucchino describes as ``fair'' and ``comprehensive.'' Lucchino, in Tokyo on Tuesday after meeting with representatives of Matsuzaka's Seibu Lions, said the Red Sox have taken the next step toward signing the Japanese star. ``We have sent a formal offer to Matsuzaka and his agent Scott Boras,'' Lucchino said. ``I believe it is fair and comprehensive, ...

The Boston Red Sox hired John Farrell as their pitching coach Monday after a disappointing season in which the team finished third in the AL East. Since 2001, Farrell has overseen the Cleveland Indians' player development system, including its six minor-league affiliates and Latin American programs. Farrell had a 36-46 record with a 4.56 ERA in 116 games as a right-handed pitcher between 1987-1996 with the Indians, Angels and Tigers. ...

Jonathan Papelbon will be a starter, Trot Nixon might be an opponent and Theo Epstein is a realist. Injuries and poor play in the second half of the season kept the Boston Red Sox out of the playoffs for the first time in Epstein's four years as general manager. He admitted Sunday that the team needs plenty of help to get back there in a tough American League. ``You can't ...

Devern Hansack pitched no-hit ball for five innings before Sunday's game was called because of rain, giving Boston a 9-0 win over Baltimore _ but not giving the Red Sox rookie official credit for a no-hitter. In only his second major league outing, Hansack became the ninth AL pitcher to allow no hits in a complete game of fewer than nine innings. In September 1991, a committee chaired by then-commissioner ...

Kevin Millar's two-run single in the ninth inning lifted Baltimore to a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night, snapping the Orioles' nine-game losing streak at Fenway Park. Miguel Tejeda and Jay Gibbons led off the ninth with singles off Mike Timlin (6-6). After a fielder's choice and passed ball put runners at second and third, Millar hit a ball off the Green Monster to give the ...

Manny Ramirez returned to the Boston Red Sox starting lineup for the first time in 18 games. Ramirez was set to bat fourth as the designated hitter Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing Boston manager Terry Francona to give David Ortiz a day off before Sunday's season finale. ``I thought putting Manny in as a DH is a good way to maybe split the difference,'' Francona said. ``Maybe he could ...