Beckett to Miss Tuesday's Start Against Yanks

Red Sox RHP Josh Beckett won't be facing the Yankees on Tuesday after skipping a bullpen session yesterday because of continued numbness and tingling in his pitching arm.

Manager Terry Francona said Beckett has "inflammation" in his elbow and likely won't start again until Friday, when the Red Sox return home to open a three-game series against the White Sox.

Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, out since Aug. 7 with tightness behind his right shoulder, threw in the bullpen yesterday and will come off the disabled list to start Tuesday when the Red Sox begin their final regular season series at Yankee Stadium. Wakefield is 7-8 with a 3.67 ERA in 23 starts.

Beckett, who took Thursday off, threw in the outfield for the second straight day yesterday and won't throw off a mound until Tuesday. He said the decision to push his start back was made after he felt numbness and tingling in his hand again Friday.

"It's gotten better," he said. "We had the one day [Friday] where it kind of came back. That's why we decided to do what we did. It has gotten better. The treatment and stuff is definitely working."

Francona intends to be "overly cautious" with Beckett, who is 11-9 with a 4.34 ERA.

Beckett first reported numbness and tingling in his right hand after sleeping on his arm the night before his latest start, Aug. 17, when he gave up eight runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings in a 15-4 loss to Toronto.

· YANKEES: RHP Joba Chamberlain threw 35 pitches off the mound yesterday, giving New York hope that he will soon recover from the rotator cuff tendinitis that put him on the 15-day disabled list this month.

"Everything felt good, felt pretty neat," he said. "I cut a couple loose. Nothing tightened up after I let one go."

Chamberlain has been on the disabled list since Aug. 6 and has not pitched since Aug. 4. He is 4-3 with a 2.63 ERA in 32 games, including 12 starts.

· BLUE JAYS: Toronto sent struggling RHP Shaun Marcum to Class AAA Syracuse and recalled LHP John Parrish.

Marcum, 8-6 with a 3.60 ERA in 22 starts, allowed five runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings of Friday's 8-4 loss to Boston, his first defeat in five outings. Marcum is 3-2 with a 6.19 ERA in seven starts since coming off the disabled list July 22.

-- From News Services