"One day after indicating there was nothing wrong with ace Josh Beckett, the Red Sox yesterday scratched the right-hander from his scheduled start Saturday with what the pitcher termed “numbness” in his pitching hand.

Prior to the Sox’ 7-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles last night at Camden Yards, Sox manager Terry Francona indicated Beckett would be given three additional days of rest and make his next start Tuesday against the New York Yankees. Meanwhile, Beckett seemed far less definitive on the date of his next outing, adding that he has been experiencing a similar sensation in his hand at various points this season.

“It’s just something I’ve been dealing with,” said Beckett, who politely declined comment before the Sox opened a series in Baltimore on Monday. “At some point, you’ve got to figure out what it is. It’s not what I want (to skip a start), but at this juncture, it’s something that needs to happen.

“As far as pain goes, there’s pretty much no pain at all. It’s just that we’ve got to figure out what the hell it was . . . It’s something we’ve dealt with but I’ve never had to deal with it on that level.”

According to Francona, Beckett’s most recent symptoms came Sunday, after the pitcher revealed he had awkwardly slept on his shoulder Saturday night. Beckett subsequently went out and had one of the worst outings in his three-year career with the Red Sox, allowing eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings of an eventual 15-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

When asked specifically about Beckett’s health prior to Monday’s game against Baltimore, Francona said Beckett was healthy and characterized the pitcher’s Sunday performance as a “clunker.” The manager admitted prior to last night’s game the numbness Beckett experienced - Francona referred to it as a “tingling” - likely affected the pitcher’s outing.

“Probably a little bit. It probably didn’t help his location,” admitted Francona, noting Beckett rarely makes excuses. “Somebody asked me (Monday) if he was healthy and I don’t want to lie. . . . It’s not something we’re concerned about. We also don’t want to do something that’s wrong (long term).”

According to Beckett, the Red Sox already have run him through tests that ruled out circulatory problems or an aneurysm, the latter of which temporarily derailed the career of David Cone.

The pitcher has resisted an arthrogram (or dye injection) in his shoulder because of the trauma caused by the procedure, particularly at a time of year when every game takes on greater importance.

With Beckett scratched from the weekend, the Sox will move both Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka up a day, meaning Paul Byrd, Lester and Matsuzaka will start the three games in Toronto. The Sox have a day off Monday, giving Beckett an eight-day respite before his next scheduled start."