Drew back on the DL; Kotsay eyed as replacement

J.D. Drew has been placed on the 15-day DL with a herniated disc in his back, a condition that can cause a great deal of pain, depending on how badly it has slipped. The Red Sox are in trade talks with the Braves that could bring veteran outfielder Mark Kotsay to Boston. The 32-year old Kotsay had been kind of terrible in 2007 and to begin 2008, but has had a big resurgence of late and is now hitting .289/.338/.418 in 318 AB for the Braves, very near his career numbers.

14-7: Buchholz, Sox sweep Rangers 8-3

In the annual early Patriot’s Day game, Clay Buchholz (1-1) faced his former teammate Kason Gabbard and worked through some early jams to earn his first win of the season, and a four-game sweep of the Texas Rangers. A costly error and some defensive gaffes cost the Rangers, as they fell 8-3.

Injury bug strikes Sox

Alex Cora has been placed on the 15-day DL today (retroactive to Thursday) with a sprained right elbow. He was scheduled to have an MRI on it today. Taking his place on the roster is 28-year old reserve Joe Thurston, who saw time with the club in Spring Training this year. Thurston, a utility player, is listed at 5-9 and 190 lbs and has logged time all over the infield and in the outfield in his professional career. He has been playing second base at Pawtucket, and was 11-43 (.257) in 11 games this season.

Sox drop delayed game 4-3

The Sox played well yesterday, but suffered some bad luck in the 8th inning which allowed the Toronto Blue Jays to score all four of their runs. Reid Engel, playing in centerfield, misjudged a fly ball and lost it in the sun; it carried over his head, allowing all three runners to score on what was scored a double for Chip Cannon off of minor league pitcher Barry Hertzler. To be fair, the bases became loaded when Hideki Okajima struggled with his fastball command, walking two men.

Lester pitches well in 16-6 drubbing of the Reds

Jon Lester‘s line wasn’t all that great, but he did pitch pretty well against the Cincinnati Reds yesterday. The Reds, known to be an aggressive and free-swinging team, got four hits and drew just one walk over four innings against him, scoring three runs. More importantly, Lester got up to 70 pitches and showed good stamina and execution of his pitches. Bryan Corey turned in more than an inning before getting into a bit of trouble, but was bailed out by David Aardsma. Aardsma gave up two runs in the following frame, and Javier Lopez surrendered one more. Craig Hansen went one perfect inning, striking out two, flashing the promise he has as a setup man.