A few things to get to here.

Rather than recapping the home opener, which I'm sure most of you saw, I'll just say this: Josh Beckett is going to be a lot of fun to watch this season. He's a warrior on the mound and can scratch and claw his way through a game. He didn't have his best stuff yesterday, but as you saw, he was able to chew up the Blue Jays. Stud.

Next, Coco Crisp agreed with the Red Sox on a three-year extension that includes a club option for the 2010 season. Crisp already was signed for this year at $2.75 million. The extension contains a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $3.5 million in 2007, $4.75 million in 2008 and $5.75 million in 2009. The club option for 2010, which would buy out his first year of free agency, is at $8 million and includes $500,000 buyout and salary escalator provisions.

A good deal for the Sox here, essentially buying out Coco's arbitration years and adding an option year at the end. Three years of Coco for about the same amount of money as one year of Johnny Damon? I can't complain.

It was expected that Lenny DiNardo would be returned to Pawtucket today, as David Wells would be removed from the Disabled List. Well, that didn't happen. Instead, the Sox have decided to place reliever David Riske on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back strain, retroactive to April 5. Riske has only pitched once this season, giving up two runs and two hits in one inning.

I, personally, don't think Riske is hurt. He's just pitching poorly. The fact that he's been placed on the DL retroactive to April 5th is suspicious to me. That means he will be eligible to come off the DL on the 21st, the exact day that Stern is eligible to be sent to Pawtucket. It works out nicely.

Tonight, we take a 2nd straight from the Jays...