According to multiple reports, the Yankees have reached out to former Red Sox Johnny Damon and Carlos Pena in an attempt to find someone to fill their void at designated hitter.

Damon, 38, hit .261 with a .326 on-base percentage and .418 slugging mark in 150 games for the Rays last season. Pena, 33, hit .225/.357/.462 in 153 games for the Cubs in 2011.

The Yankees need a DH following the departure of Jorge Posada and the trade of Jesus Montero to the Mariners.

Jon Lester

In the third game of a pivotal four-game series against the Rays, the Red Sox will send Jon Lester to the mound on Saturday at Fenway Park. Lester will try to make up for a poor start against the Rays in his last outing, while Tampa Bay’s Jeff Niemann will look to replicate the success he had against the Sox on Aug. 16, when he threw a complete game.

Lester (15-7, 3.07 ERA) lasted just four innings last Sunday against the Rays, allowing four runs in a loss. It was tied for his shortest outing of the season and gave the Rays the series sweep.

Besides that start, however, Lester has been excellent lately, recording a 2.63 ERA over his last 10 outings. The left-hander has been fanning batters at a good clip as well, striking out 59 in those games.

Lester has a 4.00 ERA in three starts against Tampa Bay this season, going 1-2 in those games. Johnny Damon is hitting .300 with two home runs and seven RBIs against Lester. The Rays lineup as a unit has .245 average against the Boston starter.

Niemann (10-7, 3.97 ERA) has had a solid year for Tampa Bay in the middle of the rotation. After struggling against Texas on Sept. 6, when he gave up seven runs in 4 2/3 innings, Niemann rebounded to pitch 7 2/3 innings while giving up only two runs against the Orioles in a win on Monday.

Niemann has been especially good against the Red Sox this season, allowing two runs in two starts (17 innings). That includes that complete game on Aug. 16, when Niemann allowed two runs and struck out 10 in the win over Boston. The current Red Sox lineup has been dismal against Niemann, hitting .130 off the Rays starter collectively. Conor Jackson is the only Boston player hitting above .200 off of Niemann.

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Joe Maddon

Rays manager Joe Maddon joined the Mut & Merloni show Friday afternoon to talk about the Red Sox, Rays and their three-game series which starts Friday night. To hear the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

Maddon does not let Tampa Bay’s financial limitations, compared to those of teams in major markets such as Boston and New York, intimidate his team.

“The point is that regardless of your location and the fact that you may have attributes that we don’t based on that location and funds or whatever, that doesn’t mean that you’re any better than us,” Maddon said. “We don’t believe that. We love the idea of playing the Boston Red Sox and all of their tradition. We love the idea of playing the Yankees based on all of their tradition. But don’t for a second think that that’s going to matter to us regarding the game itself. We come prepared to play every night. Sometimes you write all the names on a piece of paper. Some people may say disadvantage Rays, but we don’t feel that way. I actually like our names a lot.

“Recently we played the Red Sox at home and you guys beat us 7-6 over a three-game series. Great series. Recently just lost two out of three in New York and scored more runs than them, but they had the 1-0 shutout. My point is that we can play with the Red Sox, we can with the Yankees, regardless of our payroll. Never saw a dollar bill make a good pitch or hit a ball to the right-center-field gap. It’s about playing the game properly, with respect and heart on a nightly basis. And that’s what we showed people in 2008.”

On the play of former Red Sox Johnny Damon: Read the rest of this entry »

Former Red Sox outfielder and current Ray Johnny Damon recorded his 2,655th career hit Saturday night, moving him past Ted Williams and into sole possession of 71st place on the all-time list.

“Ted Williams, to many, is the greatest hitter of all time,” Damon said. “Obviously, he could have gotten more hits if he wasn’t as great as a hitter, maybe. I mean, he walked so many times and spent five years of service for our country. But just having the Boston ties that I do have, and knowing the history of that franchise and the history of Ted Williams, it’s a special moment.”

Damon’s hit was a leadoff single through the left side of the Cardinals’ infield. The game was briefly stopped to announce the accomplishment on the scoreboard, and Rays fans gave Damon a standing ovation. Cardinals second baseman Skip Schumaker also applauded, and Rays first base coach George Hendrick gave Damon a hug.

“I’m very happy for [Damon],” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “I’ve talked about him on different occasions [about] how he’s unique, and this, furthermore, indicates why he should be in the Hall of Fame.”

Damon needs two hits to tie Lave Cross and Harry Heilman for 70th place.

Jacoby Ellsbury has played every game for the Red Sox this year. (AP)

NEW YORK — By now, the storyline has been hashed and rehashed ad nauseum. In 2010, Jacoby Ellsbury was limited to just 18 games while trying to recover from rib fractures. As he missed almost 90 percent of his team’s games, his toughness came into question, and with it, there were those who wondered about his commitment to the team.

Fast forward to 2011. Those conversations aren’t occurring anymore.

To the contrary, Ellsbury joins Adrian Gonzalez as the only Red Sox players who have appeared in all 38 games thus far this year. The center fielder has started 35 of the contests, entered two as a pinch-runner for David Ortiz and been in one more as a pinch-hitter. His ability to remain on the field at this stage of the season is particularly noteworthy given that his job description — center fielder and base-stealing leadoff hitter — requires physical punishment.

Friday night’s game illustrated that notion. On a two-run fifth-inning homer by Russell Martin, Ellsbury slammed into the wall while making a leaping attempt at the ball. After he bounced to the warning track, he required a moment to pull himself off the dirt.

“I thought I had a chance at it,” said Ellsbury. “Just ran out of real estate.”

Then, in the ninth, he stole second base on a pitchout. When Russell Martin‘s throw bounced off of his legs, Ellsbury hopped back up and started towards third. But then, when the ball didn’t trickle far enough for him to advance, Ellsbury slammed on the breaks. His ankle rolled and he felt a sudden pain just below his right knee, yet he stayed in the game.

“I think it just comes with the territory. There’s going to be times you’ve got to go in hard. It’s just part of stealing bases,” said Ellsbury. “You’re going to hit the second baseman. You’re going to hit the shortstop. Balls are going to hit you. It’s what you take with stolen bases I guess.”

On Saturday morning, Ellsbury reached out to manager Terry Francona to let him know that he was fine and ready to play again. The gesture — and Ellsbury’s role as one of the most durable players on the team in 2011 — was appreciated.

“I think he understands that by being out there, whether he’s at full strength or not, especially batting leadoff, he can impact the game in a lot of different ways. And that’s an admirable trait,” said Francona. “You probably remember how much I talked about Johnny Damon and how he did that. As a manager and coach, you really appreciate that in players. I think Jacoby’s done a tremendous job, because there are some days when he’s been a little bit beat up, and that’s going to happen when your game is speed and you’re hitting walls and diving into bases.”

Thanks to a 19-game hitting streak that came to a conclusion earlier in the week, the outfielder entered Saturday with a .295 average, .344 OBP, .450 slugging mark and .793 OPS with four homers. He was leading the American League at the start of the day with 12 steals. In what he has done thus far this year, Ellsbury has helped to render the 2010 season an afterthought.

Francona suggested that both his performance and his durability to date have been meant to offer a message.

“I think it’s a priority [for Ellsbury],” said Francona. “However you want to say it, whether he wants to prove it to whoever – maybe to himself, or [the media] or me – but yeah, I think he definitely wants to be out there.”

For approximately 15 minutes, in the visitor’s dugout at Fenway Park, Johnny Damon showed exactly why he was one of the most popular players ever to put on a Red Sox uniform.

He answered every question fired at him. From returning to Fenway as a visitor with his fifth different team to how he felt about Manny Ramirez‘s retirement leaving the Rays in the lurch to the dynamic at last year’s trade deadline that left him staying in Detroit and the Red Sox winding up with Carl Crawford.

So, without further adieu, we present Johnny Damon, uncut.

Does it ever get old coming back? “No, this place is magical. This place meant so much to me during my four years here. It was a real pain in the butt in my four years in New York. Bottom line, I’m a baseball player. I go out and try to play as good as I can. Now, I’m on team number six so it’s part of the game.”

Do you still have energy for the game? “Certain days, yes, other days you’re a little tired.”

Are you surprised at your team’s 1-8 start? “Absolutely. There’s definitely some reasoning. Our pitching’s been pretty good. Our offense has been real bad. We might have one guy hitting over .250 right now, and anytime you lose a guy like Longoria in the second game of the season and then we lose Manny, who was really solid for us during spring training and we were looking forward to doing a lot of good things this year. Right off the bat, we lose our No. 3 and No. 4 guys and we have a young team. We have a lot of young guys who are trying to press to fill that void. I’m here to get them relax and remind them there’s a lot of baseball left to play. Yeah, we’re upset where we stand right now but this game is tough. It’s tough to win games in the big leagues.”

Are you surprised at Boston’s 2-7 start? “They actually have a bull’s eye on them. They’re picked to win the World Series. From everything that happened going into the season, they already were awarded the 2011 World Series. You know teams are going to get excited to play them, where teams stand and how teams prepare for them. They’re definitely the team to beat.”

What are your thoughts on Manny Ramirez and his sudden retirement, brought on by MLB’s “issue” with a recent PED test? “It’s a very sad thing that happened with Manny. I wish him nothing but the best. He was a great teammate of mine. He was a great player. I was just hoping that we would continue to have all the fun that we had when we had the press conference. For it to end so abruptly and for the reason, it’s sad. I hope Manny is in a better place. I heard he’s going to be traveling. He deserves to do it. After 18 or 19 years in the big leagues, it’s time for him to walk away. Unfortunately, it’s under these terms.” Read the rest of this entry »

Daisuke Matsuzaka

It’s safe to say no one was expecting the Red Sox and Rays to be a combined 3-15 entering Monday night’s series opener at Fenway Park. But after both teams started 0-6, they have found themselves looking up at the rest of the AL East in the early going. The Sox took a step in the right direction over the weekend, taking two of three from the Yankees, while the Rays dropped three of four to the White Sox.

Monday night’s pitching matchup pits Daisuke Matsuzaka against Jeremy Hellickson. They both enter the game 0-1 after similar first starts. Matsuzaka gave up three earned runs over five innings against the Indians and Hellickson gave up three earned over 5 2/3 against the Angels.

The 24-year-old Hellickson appeared in 10 games last year in his first season in the bigs, posting a 4-0 record and 3.47 ERA in 36 1/3 innings. One of those games came against Boston on Sept. 7. The right-hander came out of the bullpen and gave up three earned runs in 1 2/3 innings, but the Rays still won the game 14-5. Four current Red Sox had an at bat against Hellickson in that game, with Jed Lowrie, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Darnell McDonald all getting a hit and an RBI — McDonald’s of the home run variety.

Matsuzaka has much more experience against the Rays, but it’s rarely been a pleasant experience for the right-hander. He’s just 2-6 with a 5.09 ERA in 12 career starts against Tampa. Last year was even worse, as Matsuzaka struggled with the Rays more than any other team, going 0-2 with an 8.62 ERA in three starts.

Johnny Damon, Ben Zobrist and Casey Kotchman are all hitting .278 or better with a home run off Matsuzaka. John Jaso, Kelly Shoppach and Sean Rodriguez are all hitting .333 or better against Matsuzaka as well. B.J. Upton and Matt Joyce have also homered off Matsuzaka — Upton twice — but they’re both hitting below .240.

MATSUZAKA VS. RAYS

HELLICKSON VS. RED SOX