American League

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff PHILADELPHIA — Daisuke Matsuzaka will not be returning to the Red Sox any time soon. The righthander, whose minor league rehabilitation assignment was due to end on Wednesday, has been shut down because of pain in his right trapezius muscle. Matsuzaka received an injection in the area. "That's been nagging him for quite a while and we've got to make sure that that's 100 percent before he's going out there again," manager Bobby Valentine said.

By Tony Massarotti, Boston.com Columnist If the Red Sox are feeling good about themselves in the wake of a stretch during which they have gone 10-3, that is certainly a good thing. If the Red Sox are more unified now than they were at the beginning of the season, that is a good thing, too. And if the Red Sox are using the media and criticism as a rallying cause, that is also excellent news. But for a team that has not had a winning record at any point this season, the Red Sox on Wednesday seemed a touch beyond their skis.

Bill Greene/Globe Staff By Tony Massarotti, Boston.com Columnist The last time the Red Sox won five games in a row, the streak ultimately reached six. And then, just as the Sox reached .500 and suggested they were prepared to turn a corner, they dropped 9 of 11 and plummeted right back into the depths of dysfunction and futility. So here we are again. You buying yet? Pictures: Red Sox-Mariners series Still the possessors of a losing record, the Red Sox defeated the impotent Seattle Mariners by a 5-0 score at Fenway Park on Tuesday behind a honed, refined Josh Beckett.

PHILADELPHIA — They are the last-place Boston Red Sox. It has become part of their name. They are no longer just the Red Sox. Just as the Wallendas are the Flying Wallendas, and the Bosstones are the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, the Sox are the last-place Red Sox. Cellar dwellers. Basement boys. Bringing up the rear. When I was a kid, we had a dumb joke about the Washington Senators. Washington was first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.

PHILADELPHIA — They are the last-place Boston Red Sox. It has become part of their name. They are no longer just the Red Sox. Just as the Wallendas are the Flying Wallendas, and the Bosstones are the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, the Sox are the last-place Red Sox. Cellar dwellers. Basement boys. Bringing up the rear. When I was a kid, we had a dumb joke about the Washington Senators. Washington was first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.

By Tony Massarotti, Boston.com Columnist If the Red Sox are feeling good about themselves in the wake of a stretch during which they have gone 10-3, that is certainly a good thing. If the Red Sox are more unified now than they were at the beginning of the season, that is a good thing, too. And if the Red Sox are using the media and criticism as a rallying cause, that is also excellent news. But for a team that has not had a winning record at any point this season, the Red Sox on Wednesday seemed a touch beyond their skis.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Had the Red Sox managed to beat the Baltimore Orioles Sunday, Adrian Gonzalez said going hitless in eight at-bats over 17 innings wouldn't have bothered him too much. "I'd rather go 0 for 8 and win than go 3 for 5 and lose," he said Monday before the Sox played the Royals. "All I really care about is winning. " But the Red Sox did lose and the long, fruitless day added to what has been a frustrating season for Gonzalez. He even struck out on three pitches with two runners on and no outs in the 17th against Chris...

They are the Red Sox' answer to Scylla and Charybdis, the twin monsters who terrorize opposing pitchers by guarding the heart of the Red Sox' order. Or, as Tennessee Ernie Ford sang in "Sixteen Tons," "If the right one don't get ya, the left one will. " They are Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, a.k.a. "Papi. " Ramirez has been a star since entering the major leagues 11 years ago. He has been on an Express Lane to Cooperstown since 1999-2000, when he knocked in an astonishing 287 runs in 265 games.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon backed off his criticism of Boston baseball fans on Monday. Papelbon said he meant no harm and didn't mean to rip Boston fans when he said on Philadelphia radio station 94-WIP earlier in spring training that the difference between Boston and Philadelphia is, "the Boston fans are a little bit more hysterical when it comes to the game of baseball. The Philly fans tend to know the game a little better, being in the National League, you know, the way the game is played.

NEW YORK - Marty Springstead, who at age 36 in 1973 became the youngest umpire crew chief in World Series history, has died. He was 74. Major League Baseball said yesterday that Mr. Springstead was found dead at his home in Florida on Tuesday night. A native of Nyack, N.Y., Mr. Springstead was an American League umpire from 1966 to '85. Among his three World Series were 1978 and 1983, and he also was an umpire at the All-Star game in 1969, 1975, and 1982, and at five American League championship series.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff PHILADELPHIA — Daisuke Matsuzaka will not be returning to the Red Sox any time soon. The righthander, whose minor league rehabilitation assignment was due to end on Wednesday, has been shut down because of pain in his right trapezius muscle. Matsuzaka received an injection in the area. "That's been nagging him for quite a while and we've got to make sure that that's 100 percent before he's going out there again," manager Bobby Valentine said.

Bill Greene/Globe Staff By Tony Massarotti, Boston.com Columnist The last time the Red Sox won five games in a row, the streak ultimately reached six. And then, just as the Sox reached .500 and suggested they were prepared to turn a corner, they dropped 9 of 11 and plummeted right back into the depths of dysfunction and futility. So here we are again. You buying yet? Pictures: Red Sox-Mariners series Still the possessors of a losing record, the Red Sox defeated the impotent Seattle Mariners by a 5-0 score at Fenway Park on Tuesday behind a honed,...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Had the Red Sox managed to beat the Baltimore Orioles Sunday, Adrian Gonzalez said going hitless in eight at-bats over 17 innings wouldn't have bothered him too much. "I'd rather go 0 for 8 and win than go 3 for 5 and lose," he said Monday before the Sox played the Royals. "All I really care about is winning. " But the Red Sox did lose and the long, fruitless day added to what has been a frustrating season for Gonzalez. He even struck out on three pitches with two runners on and no outs in the 17th against Chris...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Had the Red Sox managed to beat the Baltimore Orioles Sunday, Adrian Gonzalez said going hitless in eight at-bats over 17 innings wouldn't have bothered him too much. "I'd rather go 0 for 8 and win than go 3 for 5 and lose," he said Monday before the Sox played the Royals. "All I really care about is winning. " But the Red Sox did lose and the long, fruitless day added to what has been a frustrating season for Gonzalez. He even struck out on three pitches with two runners on and no outs in the 17th against Chris Davis, a position player pressed into service on the mound.

Carl Crawford has a sprained ligament in his throwing elbow and the Boston Red Sox left fielder will remain sidelined for a while. The team released a statement Thursday night saying Crawford's diagnosis was made by the Red Sox medical staff and confirmed by Dr. James Andrews. Crawford received a Platelet Rich Plasma injection and will be shut down from baseball activity "during the initial phase of his treatment. " The club did not announce a timetable for Crawford's return, but he is expected to miss at least another month or two — maybe more.

Nothing like a visit from the defending American League champions to keep a difficult early-season schedule going. Today's lineups: RED SOX (4-6) Aviles SS Pedroia 2B Gonzalez 1B Ortiz DH Youkilis 3B Sweeney RF Ross LF Saltalamacchia C Repko CF Pitching: LHP Jon Lester (0-1, 2.40) RANGERS (8-2) Kinsler 2B Andrus SS Hamilton LF Beltre 3B Young DH Cruz RF Napoli 1B Torrealba C Gentry CF Pitching: RHP Colby Lewis (1-0, 1.42)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Had the Red Sox managed to beat the Baltimore Orioles Sunday, Adrian Gonzalez said going hitless in eight at-bats over 17 innings wouldn't have bothered him too much. "I'd rather go 0 for 8 and win than go 3 for 5 and lose," he said Monday before the Sox played the Royals. "All I really care about is winning. " But the Red Sox did lose and the long, fruitless day added to what has been a frustrating season for Gonzalez. He even struck out on three pitches with two runners on and no outs in the 17th against Chris Davis, a position player pressed into service on the mound.

NEW YORK — Gil McDougald, an All-Star infielder who helped the New York Yankees win five World Series during the 1950s, has died. He was 82. Mr. McDougald died Sunday of prostate cancer at his home in Wall Township, N.J., the Yankees said last night. Mr. McDougald spent his 10-year major league career with the Yankees and played a key role on one of baseball’s greatest dynasties. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1951 and teamed with Hall of Famers such as Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and manager Casey Stengel to lead...

Call it that championship feeling. A year ago, it made Fenway Park a special shrine, and the Red Sox a very special team. The moment lefthander Bruce Hurst took the field yesterday, the magic that carried the Red Sox to the 1986 American League pennant seemed to fill the air for the first time this season. After Hurst left the mound with a two-hit, 3-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, an Opening Day crowd of 33,679 hoped they were seeing the beginning of a grand revival. After three puzzling losses to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Red Sox were suddenly on track -- and against a...

Alex Rios led off the ninth inning with a home run and the Chicago White Sox got their first win for new manager Robin Ventura, beating the two-time defending American League champion Texas Rangers 4-3 on Saturday night. Rios homered off new Rangers closer Joe Nathan (0-1) who got a save with a perfect inning in the season opener a day earlier but entered a tie game this time. The homer to Rios cleared the 8-foot wall in center field just out of the reach of leaping center fielder Josh Hamilton.