Beckett will be under scrutiny; Ace finally makes '08 debut.

Byline: Bill Ballou

COLUMN: RED SOX NOTES

TORONTO - The key man in the Red Sox's postseason surge last year makes his first appearance of the regular season here this afternoon.

Josh Beckett will be activated from the 15-day disabled list and start vs. Roy Halladay. Beckett has been sidelined with a lower back strain suffered early in spring training and did not travel with the team either to Japan or Oakland.

"We're not gonna let him overextend it," manager Terry Francona said in mapping out what's expected of his ace today. "We'll keep an eye on where he is, and his pitch count."

Beckett never did pitch in a spring training game this year. His last outing was in Fort Myers after everyone had departed for the regular season and he worked five innings in what Francona calls a "made-up game" last Tuesday.

"It wasn't the best of circumstances," Francona added. "He made the most out of what was there."

Beckett's lifetime record up here is not very good, but he had two awful starts at the Rogers Centre in 2006 that make the numbers misleading. Last year, Beckett pitched well in his only game here, giving up just one run in seven innings on May 8 in a game Boston won, 9-2.

Overall, he was 2-1 with a 2.35 ERA vs. the Blue Jays last season and struck out 20 in 23 innings.

Halladay is 0-1 this year and has not been very successful against the Red Sox throughout his career. His lifetime record is 111-55 with a 3.63 ERA; versus Boston he is 9-10 with a 4.82 ERA. Last year, Halladay was 1-3 with a 5.94 ERA in games against the Red Sox.

Dome still closed

Unlike Friday, which was a uniformly miserable day weather-wise, yesterday was a perfect early spring day up here, bright and sunny, although a bit chilly.

Because it was chilly, the Rogers Centre dome was closed.

"We usually wait until it get to be about 65 (degrees) or so," Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi said. "Most of our fans dress for a day like this expecting the roof to be closed, and it would be tough on them to open it up even if it's sunny out.

Advice for home opener

The Sox have released some fan suggestions for those planning to attend the Fenway opener on Tuesday afternoon.

The ballpark will open early, at 11:35 a.m., and fans are asked to be in their seats by 1 p.m. for the pre-game ceremonies. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:05. Fans with tickets in hand may enter the park through any of the five regular gates, but the most convenient gate is printed on the ticket.

The new "will call" windows are located at Gates B, C and E.

Lugo leads off

Julio Lugo was in the leadoff spot for the first time this season.

"I know he likes to hit leadoff," Francona said, "but on-base percentage is important."

Lugo hit just .224 as Boston's leadoff batter last year, starting 82 games. His on-base percentage was just .286, but the Sox were 55-27 with him in the No. 1 spot. As the ninth hitter, Lugo batted .305, but Boston was 22-26 when he started at the bottom of the order, so go figure.

He was 1 for 4 yesterday and also reached via a hit-by-pitch.

Roster move due

Boston will make a roster move this morning to allow Beckett to be activated. Which pitcher will go, and where, is a matter of conjecture. Kyle Snyder has been terrible so far, and after yesterday's flameout has a 21.60 ERA; Snyder and Julian Tavarez are essentially the same pitcher, anyway, except that one rolls the ball to first base on grounders back to the mound.

Bryan Corey was hammered yesterday and David Aardsma has not been especially impressive, either, so far.

Diamond Dust

Since the beginning of the 2005 season, Boston is 11-19 at the Rogers Centre. The Sox team ERA in those games is 5.78. ... Manny Ramirez had an RBI, his 1,610th in the big leagues. He moved past Goose Goslin into 27th place on the all-time list.

NAME: BOSTON RED SOX