The forecast says the rain will go away soon enough for the Red Sox and Twins to play tonight, but at the moment the tarp is down. What was a steady, hard rain a few minutes ago has abated.
The first casualty to the weather was Julio Lugo’s planned start tonight at Pawtucket as the PawSox [...]

After his triumphant performance in the World Baseball Classic, Daisuke Matsuzaka returned to his paying job and showed signs of fatigue, which reached their zenith Tuesday night in Oakland. Now, after two wretched regular season performances, Matsuzaka is on rthe 15-day disabled list with what is being called “a mild right shoulder strain.”
That groan you [...]

After throwing 40 pitches this morning, his workout of the spring off a mound, John Smoltz apparently feels fairly strong. After the workout, Red Sox manager Terry Franconca suggested that Smoltz could be back before June 1.
Asked if that meant sometime in mid-May, Francona told reporters “Yeah, sure.”
Smoltz, signed this winter after distinguished 20-year career [...]

 Which comes first, the unsettling news or the ominous new?
We’ll start with the unsettling news. Brad Penny’s first appearance of the spring has been put on hold as he continues trying to regain strength in his surgically repaired shoulder. As reported this morning by the Boston Herald’s Sean McAdam, Penny will concentrate on throwing on [...]

Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Rocco Baldelli - and, if you want to toss in a man with no known physical ailments but a large case of the blahs, Clay Buchholz - have all arrived in Fort Myers, ready to break their rear-view mirrors and begin their careers anew.
If any one or two of them succeed, [...]

With Johnny Pesky serving as the “grand marshall”, the Red Sox engaged in their annual February ritual at Fenway Park a few moments ago as the equipment truck left the yard and began its long drive to Fort Myers, Fla., where it will be waiting for pitchers, catchers, and all who come with them next week.
Every [...]