FanHouse

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

Do you think the Red Sox are ready to go back to Fenway Park? They haven't had an off day this month (they'll have one tomorrow) and they're finishing up a 10-game road trip, on which they'll finish no better than .500. Oh yeah, they've also lost starting shortstop Julio Lugo to a concussion, starting right fielder J.D. Drew to a hyper-extended wrist and had to put promising young pitcher Clay Buchholz on the 15-day DL with, of all things, a torn fingernail.

So that explains, at least partly, why Josh Beckett went all Ozzie Guillen last night. It also helps explain why David Ortiz was still smarting this morning after he was ejected by umprie Laz Diaz for arguing a very controversial check swing third strike call. Diaz called the third strike on Ortiz without checking with the third base umpire and it appeared that the only reason Ortiz came close to breaking his wrists on the swing was to duck an up and in pitch.

Big Papi complained about Diaz's fairness last night and this morning talked about the state of umpiring in general. Ortiz and a few of his teammates (Kevin Youkilis in particular) often let an umpire know when they think he's made a bad call, but he was quick to point out the downside of criticizing the guys who call balls and strikes. One reporter asked him if he meant getting fined.

"Fine?" lamented Ortiz. "You get [expletive] on the field."

Other tidbits from Camden Yards:

- Outfielder Jonathan Van Every was called up as the corresponding roster move to Buchholz's trip to the DL. Though this is his eighth season of professional baseball, today was his first ever major league game. He's playing center field, batting ninth and he notched his first career hit in the fifth inning, so we aren't dealing with a Moonlight Graham situation. If you're wondering, yes, it is a very cool moment to see someone walk into a major league clubhouse for the first time. Van Every was all smiles even though he got the call at 8 AM this morning, hopped on a plane from Pawtucket and arrived a little over two hours before first pitch.

"You hope and pray the call does come," said the outfielder. "There were childhood thoughts on the way down. You work your whole life to get to this point." Van Every might not have much of a future in baseball, but he got here, all the way to starting in center field for the defending World Series champions, so kudos to him.

- Buchholz's torn fingernail is barely noticeable, but the Red Sox are being very cautious with him since they view him as a future ace. Bench coach Brad Mills said the team is worried about him altering something, even something small, in his delivery and getting a much more serious injury. Of course, the injury also comes at a convenient time. Boston desperately needed another outfielder on its bench and they won't need a fifth starter until next Tuesday. Of course a trip to the DL is also a good way to keep Buchholz's innings down. The team likely has him capped at somewhere around 180 innings this season.