Red Sox News and Notes

• Iron Man? Just one day after hammering a long home to dead center and throwing out a player at the plate, Brandon Moss found himself at Mass General having his appendix removed. Don't expect him back for a while. This latest episode of Red Sox E/R should effectively end any trade discussions for Coco Crisp.

• Mr. Softy? From the Say It Ain't So Dept: Seems the rookie who can do no wrong may have a little bit of J.D. Drew in him. After a mild groin strain kept Jacoby Ellsbury out longer than expected, Terry Francona had this to say about the difference between playing hurt and sustaining an injury: "Sometimes you go out and you take an 0-fer for the team and we can still win. I'm not pointing a finger at Ellsbury because I think he's a pretty tough kid. I guess my point is you're not always going to be 100 percent. I don't know that we can wait for guys always to be 100 percent or we won't ever be able to field a team."

• Rehab Bartolo Colon, recovering from an oblique strain, will pitch two innings in an extended spring training game on Monday before another evaluation by team doctors. If all goes well, he'll head to Pawtucket. If you'll recall, Colon had an option to explore free agency after May 1st, but given his injury and the comfort he's feeling with the organization, he has pushed the deadline back a month. This will give Colon time to see if he's good enough to crack the rotation. If he is, but there isn't a spot open, he can latch on to another team.

• Shields Shelled How do you go from tossing an effortless two-hitter against the Sox on Sunday to getting yanked from the game in the fourth inning against the same team just six days later? Tampa starter James Shields didn't have much of an answer. "I felt after [Friday night's loss] I needed to pitch better tonight. And I disappointed the bullpen, I disappointed the team. I'm not too happy."

• Beckett Benefits Looking at the final score of last night's 12-4 win, you'd think Josh Beckett cruised along without an issue. But early on, the Tampa Bay offense was getting on base and scoring. Before Manny Ramírez threw out a runner at the plate, the score was 5-4 and the bases were loaded with Devil Rays. Boston's ace did settle down after that, allowing just one run over 4-plus innings.

• Kazmir's Comeback Bad timing for Jon Lester and the Red Sox as Tampa Bay's ace, Scott Kazmir, makes his season debut this afternoon at Fenway. Kazmir has recovered from an elbow strain and appears ready to resume his role of Red Sox nemesis. From the MLB pitching matchups: "In nine starts at Fenway Park, he is 4-3 with a 2.73 ERA, including 59 strikeouts in 52 2/3 innings. Kazmir is 6-5 with a 2.66 ERA in 17 career starts against the Red Sox, who are hitting just .218 against him." Yikes! Let's hope Jon Lester can continue the excellent pitching he displayed on Tuesday against Toronto. A sweep against these Rays would be sweet revenge after last week's debacle at Tropicana Field.