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American League

Boston Red Sox: New manager Terry Francona showed he is not about to do things exactly by the book yesterday. With his team leading 2-0 heading into the ninth, he let Scott Williamson come out and pitch a second inning of relief rather than call on closer Keith Foulke. Most managers would have made the automatic move to get their designated closer into the game at that point. Francona had already made up his mind before the game that Foulke was not going to pitch, writes Jeff Horrigan of the Boston Herald. He had worked two innings on Saturday and thrown 30 pitches. Right now, it doesn't seem to matter who comes out of the Sox pen as they are all mowing 'em down. Their scoreless streak is up to 24 2/3 innings. Meanwhile, Sox infielder Mark Bellhorn is leading the league in walks with 19, giving him a .400 OBP in spite of a batting average of just .185. For contrast, check out Alex Sanchez of the Tigers. He's batting .327 but has an OBP 79 points lower than Bellhorn's because he has yet to draw a walk in 56 plate appearances.

Cleveland Indians: Rick White joined his ninth major league team on Sunday when he arrived in the Indians bullpen via a trade with the Dodgers. The difference this time? It made his mother cry. "My mother has always been a Cleveland fan,'' White told Sheldon Ocker of the Akron Beacon Journal. He grew up and continues to reside in Springfield, Ohio, a town much closer to Cincinnati than Cleveland. Ocker wondered why she is not a Reds fan like White's father. "My mother wants to be different from my dad," he said. Meanwhile, staff ace C.C. Sabathia threw in the bullpen yesterday as he continues to work his way back from some pain he felt in his biceps last week. ``Tentatively, he'll start on Saturday,'' manager Eric Wedge told Ocker. ``But that is not locked in yet.''

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