"Jon Lester had a welcome last-minute change to his All-Star break plans.

The left-hander is headed to Phoenix as a member of the AL squad. Lester was named to replace Seattle's Felix Hernandez, who started yesterday. By major league rules, a pitcher starting on the Sunday before the All-Star break is ineligible for the game.

Lester was the next highest-ranked pitcher in the player vote, so he earned his second consecutive All-Star selection. A strained left latissimus dorsi will prevent Lester from pitching (he'll be replaced by Toronto's Ricky Romero), but he will go to Arizona to participate in the festivities.

"You just try to have as much fun as you can," Lester said. "Hopefully, this trip I'll be able to do that and enjoy a little bit more."

Lester, who has a 10-4 record and a 3.31 ERA, is optimistic his back injury won't be a serious problem in the second half.

"Everything's fine," he said. "You understand why the team has to do what they need to do as far as the (disabled list) goes, but I don't think this is going to be an issue going forward. I'll just take the time that they've given me now and make sure that it's taken care of and no longer (be) an issue later in the year."

Meanwhile, Josh Beckett was cleared to pitch in the All-Star Game after throwing a side session yesterday morning. He mildly hyperextended his left knee in his start Friday.

"He's fine," manager Terry Francona said. "For us to tell the league he was OK, he had to be OK, because we don't want to hang anybody out to dry."

Doing it all

Alfredo Aceves has been the Swiss Army knife of the pitching staff. The versatile right-hander again showed his value yesterday, throwing three perfect innings in the Sox' 8-6 win against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park.

Aceves entered the game after starter Kyle Weiland was ejected in the fifth inning for hitting Vladimir Guerrero. Aceves inherited runners on the corners with no outs and managed to preserve the Sox' one-run lead with two strikeouts and a fly out. Aceves has a 2.43 ERA in 20 relief appearances."