Notes: Boston’s Lester suffers only a bruise

Lester's suffers only a bruise

NEW YORK -- Jon Lester was able to joke, so his right leg must have felt relatively good.

"Still attached, so we're going in the right direction," the Boston pitcher said.

Lester was knocked out of Friday night's 9-5 loss to the New York Yankees by a third-inning liner off the bat of Melky Cabrera. The ball hit near Lester's right knee, and he sustained only a bruised quadriceps. X-rays were negative.

"It seems like it's getting better. This morning it wasn't as tight as I thought it was going to be," he said yesterday. "Moving around pretty good -- just seems stairs are bothering me a little bit right now."

Lester has been Boston's top pitcher in the second half. Before taking Friday's loss, he had been 6-0 with a 2.44 ERA in 11 starts from July 25 on.

YANKEES: Jorge Posada was scratched from the starting lineup against Boston because of a sore neck.

Jose Molina took his place behind the plate yesterday.

New York also said A.J. Burnett will be pushed back one day in the starting rotation to Tuesday. That allows him to be with his father, who is scheduled for triple-bypass surgery tomorrow.

Chad Gaudin will start tomorrow's series opener against Kansas City and be followed by Burnett and Joba Chamberlain.

BREWERS: Ken Macha already is involved in discussions about the Milwaukee Brewers' future -- and he expects to be a part of it.

Macha said before yesterday's game against Philadelphia that he has had "positive" discussions with General Manager Doug Melvin and is comfortable with his job situation.

And Macha said he's committed to the job.

But Macha stopped short of saying he has been told definitively he'll be back next season.

Macha has a year left on his two-year deal, but teams often avoid putting managers in the position of trying to lead players without some measure of long-term job security.

DODGERS: Manager Joe Torre is facing a math problem as the playoffs approach: 6 into 4 won't go.

Torre plans to go with a four-man rotation if the Dodgers reach the playoffs, but they're currently using six: Randy Wolf, Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda, Jon Garland, Vicente Padilla and Chad Billingsley.

The manager called all six into his office before last night's game in Pittsburgh and told them no decisions have been made.

Wolf, Kershaw, Kuroda and Garland are the likely candidates. Billingsley was used in relief on Sept. 18, but he will make at least one more start this season.

GIANTS: Freddy Sanchez is open to returning the Giants next season if the situation works out for both sides.

The three-time all-star second baseman hopes to know as soon as possible after the season whether San Francisco will pick up his $8.1 million option. Giants General Manager Brian Sabean always likes to handle such matters swiftly, but both Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy have unresolved contract situations themselves -- though all indications point to both being re-signed by new managing partner Bill Neukom after the team overachieved and showed major improvement this year.

-- From Wire Reports