MLB Notebook | Beckett's right arm still numb, tingling

TORONTO — Boston Red Sox right-hander Josh Beckett won't face the New York Yankees on Tuesday 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 series against the Chicago White Sox.

Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, out since Aug. 7 with tightness behind his right shoulder, will come off the disabled list to start Tuesday when the Red Sox begin their final regular-season series at Yankee Stadium.

Beckett said the decision to push his start back was made after he felt numbness and tingling in his hand again on 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 earned-run average in 23 starts.

"We're talking about a guy's pitching arm," Francona said.

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. He's now sleeping with a special sleeve to prevent a recurrence of the problem.

"It's like a cast," Beckett said. "The doctors say it's going to help, so we're going with it."

Notes

• Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew, who had an MRI Friday and was diagnosed with a herniated disk, missed his fifth straight game Saturday.

• Phillies outfielder Geoff Jenkins was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained right hip flexor.

• Kansas City third baseman Alex Gordon went on the 15-day DL with a torn muscle in his right quadriceps — the fourth Royals player in four days to go on the DL.

• Toronto sent struggling right-hander Shaun Marcum to AAA Syracuse and recalled left-hander John Parrish. Marcum is 8-6 with a 3.60 ERA, but has a 6.19 ERA in seven starts since coming off the DL last month.

• The Chicago Cubs can capture their eighth consecutive series for the first time since 1937 if they beat the Washington Nationals today.

• Former Mariner Greg Norton's winning RBI single for Atlanta made him 11 for 35 (.314) with 10 RBI as a pinch-hitter this season.