RED SOX NOTEBOOK;Dice out, Lester in to start vs. Rays

The Red Sox pitching rotation for the all-important series in St. Petersburg, Fla., against the Rays was upgraded yesterday at the expense of Daisuke Matsuzaka's sore back.
Matsuzaka was scheduled to pitch the opener tomorrow night, but an hour before last night's doubleheader nightcap the Sox announced that Jon Lester would pitch in Matsuzaka's place.
Tim Wakefield took Lester's start last night.
Lester, with a 13-8 record and 3.26 ERA, has been the nfl throwback jerseys
team's second-best starter this season, trailing only Clay Buchholz, who will pitch the second game against the Rays, with John Lackey (12-7) pitching the finale.
Matsuzaka (8-4, 4.19) has begun to settle down and show more consistency of late. He has been experiencing a back issue at least since Tuesday mid-afternoon, when he wore a heating pad in the lower back area.
Lester is 1-1 with a 5.23 ERA this season after two starts against the Rays. He lost his first decision to them at Fenway during his rough April, but on May 25 at the Tropicana Dome he went six innings and allowed just one hit and no runs to go with five walks and nine strikeouts. In his career at the Tropicana Dome, Lester is 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA in five starts.
Speed orders
During the ninth inning of the afternoon game, second base umpire Joe West told Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon to quicken his pace in a 5-3 Sox win.
Both West, well known for his distaste of slow-paced games, and third base umpire Angel Hernandez were timing Papelbon during the inning - with West particularly demonstrative about clicking his stopwatch behind the closer. Both felt he was in clear violation of the 12-second rule to deliver once a batter is in the box.
West and Hernandez consistently had Papelbon at 14 seconds. The pitcher made no apologies afterward, explaining that he could not risk anything quicker, thanks to the horrible conditions.
''The mound got beat up for nine innings with rain, so I'm not going to go Bills jersey
out there and put myself in a situation where I'm going to slip and get hurt,'' Papelbon said.
''I think there are certain situations where you have to give and take a little bit, and understand players need to make sure that they're out there playing in safe conditions and not going to get hurt.'' . . .
Second baseman Dustin Pedroia was awaiting word from specialists who examined the test results on his broken left foot.
Double toss
Tempers flared at the start of the third inning of the nightcap, after third baseman Adrian Beltre apparently said something to home plate umpire Dan Bellino as he took the field. Bellino swiftly ejected Beltre, who had struck out looking for the second out of the second inning.
Beltre, whose intensity is not to be trifled with on a good day, took great exception to the expulsion and had to be restrained by both manager Terry Francona and catcher Kevin Cash. After Beltre finally left the field, Francona began an up-close jawing session. Soon after, Francona got tossed, too. He spent a full minute further ranting at a full phalanx of the umpiring crew protecting Bellino, before finally leaving the diamond.
Yamaico Navarro came in to play for Beltre at third. It was Beltre's second career ejection, the first coming on Aug. 24 eight years ago when he was a Dodger.
For Francona, it was his third ejection this season, 29th time in his career. . . .
With the win in Game 1, the Sox won the series and have now won or split each of its last five home series, and 14 of their last 15. . . .
After pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings in the first game, Daniel Bard 49ers jersey
notched hold No. 28 on the season, a new franchise single-season record. . . .
The home run Seattle's Russell Branyan hit in the seventh inning of Game 1 off Josh Beckett was his first here in 16 games. He has now homered in 36 of the 39 ballparks he has batted in his career. He is 7-for-16 against Beckett. Three of those hits are for home runs.