Beckett nearing return; Timlin, Lester slated to throw for Pawtucket.

Byline: Bill Ballou

COLUMN: RED SOX NOTES

NEW YORK - Josh Beckett moved a step closer to returning to the starting rotation by throwing five practice innings in the Yankee Stadium bullpen yesterday.

The session went well and Beckett is on target to pitch against the Indians at Fenway Park on Tuesday.

Mike Timlin also threw yesterday and will head back to Boston, then go from there to Pawtucket to start another rehab stint at Triple A. Timlin is scheduled to pitch for the PawSox tomorrow.

Jon Lester is supposed to throw at Pawtucket tonight in a game vs. Syracuse. Lester will throw 70 to 75 pitches, if things go right, according to manager Terry Francona.

No big deal

Neither the Red Sox nor the Yankees made much out of Alex Rodriguez' supposed cheap slide into Dustin Pedroia in the eighth inning here Tuesday night.

Yesterday, Rodriguez said he'd never apologize for the way he plays, that the slide was an awkward one and that the contact his elbow made with Pedroia was unintentional.

Pedroia had said that Rodriguez threw an elbow and called the play "kinda cheap," but added that it was no big deal.

Those comments, Rodriguez said, didn't bother him at all. The Yankees third baseman added that he liked Pedroia and he and the Sox had a right to their opinions.

"I've been in the big leagues for three months," Pedroia said before last night's game, "and he's probably the best player in baseball. I'm not gonna tell him how to slide."

Earlier in the game, Pedroia had gone out of his way to take out New York shortstop Derek Jeter on a similar play, so Rodriguez' slide might have been payback for that.

There were no repercussions last night.

Tackling practice

With the baseball game being a clinker, the best show of the night happened with the ballpark empty.

The Yankee Stadium security detail practiced trying to bring down trespassers on the field.

The tackling was real, too, and some of the broken-field running was pretty impressive.

Drew sits one out

J.D. Drew got what Terry Francona called a mental health day even though the right fielder had hit Yankees starter Andy Pettitte well (6 for 14) during his career. Drew's slump is 0 for 10 short-term, 3 for 22 medium-term, and 14 for 87 long-term.

He has one extra-base hit, a double, in his last 41 at bats. Wily Mo Pena got the start in right field and had a pair of hits.

Ortiz in home drought

David Ortiz has not hit a home run in his last 44 at bats, and was blanked in this series. That's a rare occurrence. Since Ortiz broke into the Red Sox starting lineup in July, 2003, Boston has played 13 regular-season series here and Ortiz has homered in 10 of them.

Texas matchups

The Sox have today off, then play the Rangers three times in Texas starting tomorrow night. The Boston pitching rotation for that series is, in order, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and Julian Tavarez. Texas will counter with Brandon McCarthy, Vicente Padilla and Kameron Loe.

The off-day allows Boston to avoid using a temporary starter in Beckett's spot in the rotation.

Diamond Dust

Curt Schilling and batting coach Dave Magadan were the only members of the Sox who didn't take the team plane to Texas. Both had things to attend to at home and will join the Sox in Arlington. ... New York leads the all-time series, 1,079-888. The Yankees lead here, 582-398. The teams play again at Fenway Park June 1-3, and at Yankee Stadium Aug. 28-30. ... Coco Crisp's home run was his first in 179 at bats. ... Pedroia had two hits and has hit safely in five in a row. He was a post-game recipient of a hit on a scoring change. His liner to right in the fifth was dropped by Bobby Abreu, who was initially charged with an error. That was changed when Abreu said he lost the ball in the lights. ... Attendance was exactly 55,000. ... The Yankees honored the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings before the game and wore the school logo on their uniforms.

NAME: BOSTON RED SOX