Howard is on the kind of late-season surge that has characterized his career. He has five home runs and 12 RBI in the past 10 games, but he is likely to get a few days off before the playoffs because of his sore left foot.
“His foot is bothering him, yes,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “We’ll monitor it, and as soon as we get a chance, we’ll get him off his foot.”
Howard said he’s not sure what’s causing the pain, but he knows it’s not going away anytime soon.
“Just have to play through it,” he said. “It’s not going anywhere. We’ll just continue to treat it, stretch it, keep it loose.”
Last season, Howard suffered a badly sprained left ankle scrambling to get back to second base in a game at Washington. He missed the next three weeks. He’s not certain the bursitis, which is in his left heel and Achilles’ tendon, is related to that injury.
“This is something different than last year,” he said, “but they say those things can linger.”
Howard said that the soreness has come on gradually, that it wasn’t caused by any sudden movement. He seemed amenable to getting a couple of days off.
“That could do a lot,” he said.
A few days off could cost Howard a shot at the NL home run title. He has 31 homers, three behind Albert Pujols.
BECKETT SIDELINED
Boston Red Sox right-hander Josh Beckett has a sprained right ankle and will miss his next scheduled start.
Beckett left in the fourth inning of Monday’s start at Toronto after experiencing pain in his ankle on consecutive pitches. He flew back to Boston on Tuesday to be examined by a specialist.
Red Sox medical director Dr. Tom Gill said in a statement that Beckett’s “examination was consistent with an ankle sprain,” adding that an MRI revealed no damage to Beckett’s ankle tendons or his Achilles’ tendon.
He will be re-evaluated later this week.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona said Beckett will miss his start Sunday at Tampa Bay. John Lackey will pitch Friday in place of Erik Bedard (left knee), Kyle Weiland will go Saturday and Jon Lester will pitch Sunday.
Beckett is 12-5 in 27 starts. His 2.49 ERA is tied with Los Angeles Angels right-hander Jered Weaver for second-lowest in the AL, behind Detroit’s Justin Verlander (2.34).
A’S CRISP SCRATCHED
Athletics center fielder Coco Crisp was scratched from the starting lineup against the Kansas City Royals.
Crisp missed the previous two games because of a sore right foot. He fouled a ball off the foot during Saturday’s game against the Mariners.
Cliff Pennington was moved up in the order to take Crisp’s slot behind leadoff hitter Jemille Weeks. Ryan Sweeney replaced Crisp in the field.
LEE HONORED
Former Mariner Cliff Lee was named National League Player of the Month. The lefthander went 5-0 with a 0.45 ERA in five starts during August. He is the first pitcher in major league history to have two months in one season with at least five wins, zero losses, and an ERA lower than 0.50. His ERA was 0.21 in June.
MATUSZ OUT
Brian Matusz is out of Baltimore’s rotation for the foreseeable future.
Matusz’s disappointing season took another downward turn when Orioles manager Buck Showalter said there were no immediate plans to give the left-hander another start.
