7:34 p.m.: First things first. There is no makeup date announced. The Orioles are here for four games before the All-Star break and again in September.
Now, on to the pitching. Daisuke Matsuzaka will be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right elbow. He will be shut down for a period of time. How long has yet to be determined, but it will be some time before we see him again.
Michael Bowden will be recalled and will serve as an arm out of the bullpen. All the moves will be formally made Wednesday. For now, they exist only in your mind.
Also, Dr. Gill will be releasing a statement on the severity of Matsuzaka's injury. That will also come tomorrow, at which point we may have a better idea as to how long he will be out.
Alfredo Aceves will start in place of Matsuzaka on Saturday and Tim Wakefield will go Sunday. Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester will go on turn over the next three days, although there will be plenty of rain in the forecast.
We will be here tomorrow afternoon to give you all the weather updates as Buchholz prepares to face the Detroit Tigers and old friend Victor Martinez.
6:54 p.m.: And that's it. The game has been postponed. We will head down to hear from Terry Francona and then update you on all the changes with the staff, etc. Back in a bit.
6:27 p.m.: Sheets of hard rain are pelting Fenway Park right now. Not a chance in h-e-double hockey sticks (Go Bruins!) that this one starts on time.
If and when Tim Wakefield throws that first pitch, here is the lineup he will face.
Robert Andino, 2B
Nick Markakis, RF
Adam Jones, CF
Vladimir Guerrero, DH
Luke Scott, LF
Mark Reynolds, 3B
Matt Wieters, C
J.J. Hardy, SS
Jake Fox, 1B
Interesting to note some numbers here. If you've ever seen Wakefield face Vladimir Guerrero, you know how scary those encounters can be. Guerrero is 12-for-25 (.480) with five home runs and 10 walks against Wakefield. That's good for an OPS of 1.749!!!
The rest of the Baltimore lineup? Just 12-for-59 (.203) with three home runs against the knuckleballer.
6:11 p.m.: The official word on John Lackey to the DL came at around first pitch yesterday. We may get a similar occurrence tonight.
It is a near certainty that Daisuke Matsuzaka is going on the disabled list with an elbow strain, or tightness or whatever it is that's bothering him. Michael Bowden will slide into the bullpen and Aldredo Aceves may get the start Saturday. We'll have to wait and see on that, but that's what it looks like.
As I type that, the rain has picked up in a big way. Seems like both teams could actually use a night off. Updates to come on that front soon.
5:47 p.m.: Several of my esteemed colleagues must've had a talk with some Red Sox PR people, for it appears as if Michael Bowden is on his way to the park.
That would mean that Daisuke Matsuzaka is going on the DL, presumably. Heading down to the clubhouse now to see what we can find.
5:25 p.m.: It's starting to feel a bit like 2010, isn't it? Nothing but injury updates right now.
The latest on Marco Scutaro is pretty simple. He still cannot swing a bat, but can take grounders and do most other activities.
Terry Francona insists that the Red Sox will "err on the side of caution" with this injury. It's very sensitive, so Scutaro will not start swinging a bat until they are completely sure he can. At that point, a rehab assignment will be needed.
Another guy who will need to go on rehab, in all likelihood, is Bobby Jenks. He threw from 60 feet today and reportedly felt great. Jenks was eligible to come off the DL today. Obviously, he will need another two weeks or so. The same for Scutaro, who is eiligible to come off this coming Sunday.
Dan Wheeler, meanwhile, will be able to come off the DL on Friday when he first becomes eligible, barring anything out of the ordinary.
The rain has intensified, but just a bit. It's still a bit of a heavy mist. It looks like there is a window for some baseball later on, but it will not be a pretty night. From what I hear, the Orioles are very concerned as they have very few available arms after Zach Britton and if he goes out for two innings and then is lost to a rain delay, they could be up the creek.
4:37 p.m.: The same fine mist is falling here, but the radar shows some heavy stuff south of New England that could impact us.
For now, the tarp remains on the field and the flags continue to stay stiff.
Some pregame news for you. Daisuke Matsuzaka has been sent for an MRI on his right elbow. The velocity, and effectiveness, has been down in recent outings.
"We're talking about his elbow," Terry Francona said. "Whether it's sore or he's afraid to get to a point where it is sore [that's what we need to figure out]."
It would not be a shock to see Matsuzaka hit the disabled list before his next start, although the MRI results will not be in until just before the game. Perhaps we will have an update during postgame.
Obviously, Tim Wakefield has John Lackey's start tonight. As for who takes over for Matsuzaka, if he goes down, that's another thing. Felix Doubront is on the DL in Pawtucket, Alfredo Aceves is eating up some valuable innings in the bullpen with both Dan Wheeler and Bobby Jenks out (Aceves has not had a chance to get stretched out, too). You might have a Brandon Duckworth sighting at some point. Andrew Miller is on everyone's mind, but his control remains shaky. He might be a bit too risky right now if you just want someone to eat five or six innings.
As for Lackey, he will have "down" time, according to Francona.
"We need to let that thing settle down a bit," the manager said.
The club is hopeful that Lackey can come off the disabled list when he is eligible. Of course, the reason for the move may have just as much to do with something not related to baseball. Still, Lackey has had an MRI, Francona said, and they are proceeding as if he needs to rest the arm.
More in a moment.
3:10 p.m.: Greetings from Fenway Park, where a cool mist is blowing in from center field. If and when this one gets going, the conditions could have a positive impact on Tim Wakefield's knuckleball. A breeze behind him can cause some wacky fluctuations.
With a tough, albeit young, lefty on the mound for Baltimore, Terry Francona has shuffled things around a bit. Carl Crawford and J.D. Drew take a seat. Here is the lineup:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Jed Lowrie, SS
Mike Cameron, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Darnell McDonald, LF
2:12 p.m.: Getting ready to head into the park and the start of the rain keeps getting pushed off. It now looks as if it will begin after first pitch, but will be pretty constant thereafter.
The Red Sox should be making announcements as day turns to night, so we will pass along any word right away.
9 a.m.: Tim Wakefield will make his third start of the season for the Red Sox as they host the Baltimore Orioles in the finale of a quick two-game series.
The call came for Wakefield once again after John Lackey was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday evening with what the team has termed a "right elbow strain."
Each of Wakefield's starts have occurred this month. He limited Seattle to a run in 5 2/3 innings on May 1, but was knocked around a bit five days later in a 9-2 loss to Minnesota. Wakefield remains in search of win No. 180 with the Red Sox.
The team's 21st win of the season on Monday night was one to remember. It rallied from an early 6-0 deficit and claimed an 8-7 win on Adrian Gonzalez's two-run double in the ninth, moving above .500 for the first time in 2011.
Baltimore, the only team in the American League East with a losing record, will start budding young lefty Zach Britton. He is 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA and outdueled Clay Buchholz in a win over the Red Sox last month.
Britton posted a three-hit shutout against Seattle his last time out.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Rain is in the forecast all day and night. Check back for updates throughout the day.
