Mike Lowell will get some at-bats at the minor league complex Friday and if all goes well he will play third base Sunday in one of the team’s split-squad games, either at Toronto or home against Houston.
Also, Josh Beckett got through his side session OK and will be making his start Friday against Pittsburgh, Francona said.
Thursday is the one off-day of the Grapefruit League schedule for Boston so the complex will be closed. However, Clay Buchholz will get some work in over at the minor league complex.
Mets 4-2, Final: The slide continues.
In four straight losses the Red Sox have scored a total of six runs, including two in a span of 30 innings.
The positive again, however, is on the mound, where John Lackey continues to sparkle.
Lackey told reporters a moment ago that he’s close to being ready but that his arm strength is not there yet. But nine scoreless innings without a walk this spring is certainly something on which he can hang his hat.
Mid 9th, Mets 4-2: A handful of pitches were up, but Manny Delcarmen gets through the ninth with no real issues, and ends it with his first strikeout of the spring on a diving breaking ball.
Delcarmen’s ability to regain the form he showed a couple of years ago would go a long way to making a good bullpen great. Terry Francona said his velocity is not quite there after a season dealing with arm issues, but a clean ninth here is another building block.
End 8th, Mets 4-2: An RBI single by Bill Hall pulls the Sox a little closer, but they’ll need to rally to avoid a fourth straight Grapefruit League loss.
The last Boston pitcher will be Manny Delcarmen.
Mid 8th, Mets 4-1: Brian Shouse hits a batter to load the bases and then gives up a sacrifice fly, tacking another run onto Ramon Ramirez’s line.
That’s a couple of rough outings for Ramirez, but this was the uglier of the two.
He allowed the first two men to reach before serving up a three-run bomb to Fernando Martinez. After walking the next man, Terry Francona came with the hook.
Ramirez even struggled to hand the ball to the skipper. He dropped it once before passing it on.
3:01 p.m.: We leave for a few questions with John Lackey and Ramon Ramirez blows everything up.
Ramirez was just pulled after failing to record an out and giving up a three-run bomb to red-hot Fernando Martinez.
Brian Shouse is in for the Sox.
End 7th, Red Sox 1-0: The Sox’ last hit came when David Ortiz singled in the fourth.
Ramon Ramirez is on for Boston.
John Lackey meeting with media so we’ll be right back.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 1-0: The line on Daniel Bard this spring goes like this:
5 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts.
Like Lackey he seems set to head up north already.
The Sox have sold out City of Palms Park for the 95th time. Get your tickets in advance, kids.
End 6th, Red Sox 1-0: An error on second baseman Ruben Tejada allows Dustin Pedroia to reach leading off the sixth but a double play started by Tejada erases the miscue.
Kevin Youkilis then flies to center and the Sox go quietly. That gives Boston one run in its last 27 innings.
The Daniel Bard show begins again.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 1-0: There was an interesting play in the top of the sixth which nearly helped the Mets get on the board.
With a runner on second and two outs, Alex Cora popped up down the third base line. Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre sprinted straight for one another before both had to peel away to avoid a nasty collission.
The ball fell about a foot foul to give Cora another life. A wild pitch moved the runner to third but he was stranded when Cora lined to left.
End 5th, Red Sox 1-0: Hideki Okajima is on for the Red Sox after they go in order to end the fifth.
Just to sum up John Lackey’s line, he goes four innings, giving up just two hits and striking out two. He threw 28 of 39 pitches for strikes.
The big righty is almost set for the regular season, it would seem.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 1-0: Obviously David Ortiz’s dash to second base last inning was a hit-and-run, but we got your attention.
Jonathan Papelbon did the same with the Mets in the fifth. He has a 1-2-3 frame, fanning Omir Santos, whom you might remember as the catcher who homered off Papelbon in the ninth inning of a Mets comeback win at Fenway last year.
End 4th, Red Sox 1-0: Following a slow start to the spring, David Ortiz has come alive.
He rips a single off the first base bag (colored green, of course) and then breaks for second on a 1-1 pitch to Jeremy Hermida.
Hermida fouled it off and then struck out two pitches later, but the crowd at City of Palms Park loved it.
Jonathan Papelbon is on in relief of John Lackey, who tosses four scoreless innings and has nine for the spring. He allowed two hits and struck out two.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 1-0: The Sox signed him to improve their defense at third base, and Adrian Beltre just gave them a glimpse of what’s to come.
Alex Cora hit a hard shot up the middle that glanced off John Lackey’s leg and rolled toward Beltre, who barehanded it and barely beat Cora at first.
Lackey was not limping and got the next two outs without an issue, striking out Gary Matthews Jr. and getting Daniel Murphy on a grounder to short.
End 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: Finally, after 23 innings without a run, the Red Sox break through. Leave it to Dustin Pedroia to do the job.
Pedroia lines a single to left to drive in Jeremy Hermida, who had singled and moved up on a base hit by Josh Reddick.
The throw home to try to cut down Hermida was cut off and Reddick was caught in a pickle between second and third base. Due in part to his athleticism and the Mets’ ineptitude, Reddick made it back to second safely.
Mid 3rd, 0-0: Don’t blink, you might miss this one.
John Lackey mows through the 8-9-1 hitters for the Mets and has now yielded only five hits in eight scoreless innings in Grapefruit League play.
He’ll definitely get another inning and with the pitch count low it might be possible to see a fifth.
End 2nd, 0-0: Do these guys have somewhere to be? The first two innings just flew right by.
David Ortiz had reached five straight times (4-for-4, HR, walk) over his last two games before flying to center fielder Fernando Martinez for the second out of the inning.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: John Lackey may have thrown fewer than three pitches in the second. Yes, I know that’s impossible but I managed only one sip of water and a bite of chili and the inning was over.
A smooth frame for Lackey, who now has seven scoreless innings this spring.
End 1st, 0-0: The Red Sox’ scoreless streak is at 22 innings after a 1-2-3 inning by Mike Pelfrey.
Marco Scutaro popped out and both Dustin Pedroia and Victor Martinez grounded to second.
Mid 1st, 0-0: A double play and a strikeout of Daniel Murphy allows John Lackey to escape the first inning unscathed.
Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr. both singled in the inning. Matthews also stole second on Lackey and Victor Martinez.
In addition to the many green hats and shirts in the crowd today was this St. Patty’s Day scene about three hours ago.
As Terry Francona spoke with reporters in the Red Sox dugout a group of seniors in a section down the right side of the ballpark began singing Irish songs rather loudly.
Francona stopped and smirked a few times and when he finished answering one question we heard the tail end of “Oh Danny Boy.”
1:05 p.m.: The Sox have taken the field with their green jerseys and John Lackey is warming up. The Mets have green hats on today.
12:23 p.m.: Just got back from seeing Daisuke Matsuzaka throw 40 batting practice pitches and hearing from John Farrell.
Farrell said the session went well and there are no issues with Matsuzaka’s neck. The next step is a bullpen session Friday and if all goes well then, perhaps two innings in a minor league game Sunday.
Look for more information on this in a separate story.
11:24 a.m.: About to catch a glimpse of Daisuke Matsuzaka on the mound. In the meantime the Sox have optioned left hander Dustin Richardson to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Richardson, who appeared in three games with the Red Sox last season, has been instructed to work a bit more on his command and pounding the strike zone.
“He’s an interesting guy,” Terry Francona said. “He’s lefthanded, he’s very athletic, good pitcher’s body. He needs innings, he needs reps, he needs to pound the strike zone. We told him that. He’s a young kid that’s got some finish on fastballs, he can throw it in the zone and get hitters out. But consistency’s going to be a big deal. He can’t go 3-2 on hitters and not pay a price, and that’s all part of the development.”
Richardson is expected to get some work in a minor league game Thursday. Clay Buchholz will also pitch in that game as the Sox have the day off.
11:05 a.m.: Some breaks in the clouds up above and, for a second, a ray of sunshine. There shouldn’t be any issues with the weather going forward.
As we watch the first few Mets come onto the field and await the results of Daisuke Matsuzaka’s batting practice session, here are a few items from Terry Francona’s morning meeting with the media:
On David Ortiz taking balls the other way, as he did last night with a single to left: “He’s balanced, he’s relaxed he takes good swings…If you hit the ball the other way you still have to get rewarded for it. Using the whole field it’s good because to do it you pretty much have to be on balance. That’s why on the first round of batting practice we make guys hit the ball the other way. It just creates good habits…You could see last night there wasn’t much effort on that swing. Went from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ nice and quick and easy and felt great about himself.”
On Ortiz’s need to be a force this year: “It’s kind of a fact. Some teams have gone away from the full-time DH, they’re maneuvering guys around now. We’ve never done that. We just have David and he plops in there and he puts up numbers…We went through [issues with that] in April and May [when Ortiz struggled]. When he’s hitting like he can it makes us a much better team.”
On Manny Delcarmen: “[The velocity] is still not where it will be…He’s got no arm issues so as his delivery comes together I think you’ll see some of that velocity come back.”
On Bill Hall’s flexibility: “Great attitude. Can play all over the diamond and do it with enthusiasm. We ask him to kind of handle a role and he’s taken it and wherever we ask him to play he’s wanted to play.”
10:32 a.m.: Just as a reminder, Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to throw batting practice in about an hour.
The plan is for Matsuzaka to toss 40 total pitches to three batters.
Terry Francona said that the weather could alter the plans, but as I type this the rain is extremely light.
We’ll updated you on how Matsuzaka does facing live hitters for the first time this spring.
10:00 a.m.: There will be no Jason Bay for the Mets today. He did not make the trip.
Here are the starting lineups for both teams:
Red Sox
Marco Scutaro, SS
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Victor Martinez, C
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Jeremy Hermida, LF
Mike Cameron, CF
Josh Reddick, RF
Mets
Angel Pagan, LF
Alex Cora, SS
Gary Matthews, Jr., RF
Daniel Murphy, 1B
Fernando Tatis, 3B
Frank Catalanotto, DH
Omir Santos, C
Fernando Martinez, CF
Ruben Tejada, 2B
9:27 a.m.: There is a light drizzle falling in Fort Myers and temperatures are low, not the most festive of conditions for this St. Patty’s Day. Also, the Mets travel over three hours for this one, so they have to watching things closely.
But it is not a heavy rain and they will likely have no issues getting the game in.
We are still waiting on the Mets bus to see if and when old friend Jason Bay steps off but we’ll have a chat with Sox manager Terry Francona first.
The Boston clubhouse was rather chipper this morning as the green hats were being passed out and Kevin Youkilis was taking advice from teammates on what facial hair design he should go with in the name of charity.
In conducting on-camera interviews with fellow players, Youkilis, who was armed with photos of him with each design (goatee, Fu Manchu, moustache, clean-shaven) got the best reaction from catcher Victor Martinez.
Martinez first threw down the photo of the moustached Youkilis on the floor and later said the Fu Manchu made him look like a seal, making the sound of one, much to the delight of Youkilis.
We’ll have more on Youk’s morning in a bit. For now it’s off to hear from Francona.
8 a.m.:Former Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay is expected to make the trip to Fort Myers when the Mets visit the Red Sox in a St. Patrick’s Day matinee.
Bay left the Red Sox to sign a four-year deal with the other New York team this offseason, leaving the club without its 2009 home run and RBI leader.
If he gets off the bus from Port St. Lucie, Bay will be reminded of an annual Red Sox tradition as the club wears its green hats in honor of the holiday.
John Lackey, whose big-money deal was made possible in part when the team could not agree on a renewal with Bay, gets the start for Boston. Lackey has yielded three hits in five scoreless innings during Grapefruit League play.
Mike Pelfrey will start for the Mets, and NESN will have the game for you live at 1:05 p.m.
