Crisp Shines In Spring Debut; Sox Lose 6-3

Shannon Stewart lined Jonathan Papelbon's fifth pitch off the inside of the pitcher's left foot, just below the ankle bone. Pap:

My initial reaction was "I'm going down." I thought my whole ankle was shattered. It was tingling pretty good. ... I was lucky. If that ball hit me one inch higher, I'm done for three to six months. ... It didn't affect my pitching. I don't need any x-rays. The trainers said it's just bruised up pretty good.

Francona:

It was so loud, I thought it hit his heel. ... He'll obviously be evaluated by [team medical director] Tom Gill in the morning, but I think he's moving around fine. He just needed a minute to shake it off.

Papelbon threw 38 pitches in 1.2 innings, allowing two runs and four hits. Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen were both sharp in relief, but Minnesota won the Thursday night game 6-3.

Coco Crisp had quite a night: He singled off Johan Santana in the first, doubled off Carlos Silva in the third, and tripled off Gabe White in the fifth. He also scored one run and had an RBI. Coco did not lobby for a fourth at-bat to try for the cycle:

I'm not Manny or Big Papi or those guys that hit jacks like that. So it would have been a long shot for me to get up there and finish off with that. I'm happy with my day. Go home, get a good night's sleep and come back.

Keith Foulke had the first injection last week and may have a second one today. "I don't know how I'm going to react to this. My first injection was pretty hard. That kind of kept me down for a couple days. Maybe when my body gets used to having it in there, it will accept it faster."

John Flaherty has some high praise for Jonathan Papelbon:

He had a plan of what he wanted to do when he was throwing on the side. He was telling me where he wanted to put the ball and then he put it there. He wasn't just throwing to get ready. ... Then when he was throwing BP, he took a veteran's approach. He threw the fastball away to give the guys some swings, and then he started working on what he wanted to do, making nasty pitches. He's got four quality pitches. ... I hate to throw out a name, but Roger Clemens used to do it the same way.

Gordon Edes: "Manny showed up in camp yesterday in fabulous shape, not that he ever has had a problem with his weight, but the waist was noticeably trimmer and the upper body was sleeker but still ripped." According to Ramirez's agent, Gene Mato: "He's ready to put up some sick numbers. He wants to be the MVP."

Curt Schilling thinks the WBC should be played in July:

How awesome would it have been to have a 10-day international event at the All-Star break where everybody's in shape? How many guys wouldn't like 10 days off at the break? We play a harder season than any professional sport. A 10-day break with games being played by a ton of players in shape, and you're going to see five or six innings out of a guy. I think with the US team [this month], you're going to see a spring training game with better talent.

Not a bad idea. Or perhaps after the World Series, as long as the games were all played in warmer climates.

Finally, Lenny DiNardo gloves have names, courtesy of his brother: R. Chimps, Lance Uppercut, Sparky McTorso and Lance Manley.