01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 28, 2004

BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Red Sox manager Terry Francona sat in his office prior to last night's game and was elated to talk about his club's defensive work of late.

Francona especially liked the glove work of Dave McCarty and Pokey Reese in Wednesday night's game. The Boston skipper admitted he didn't give enough credit to his positional players after the club's 9-6 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

"There were some spectacular plays (Wednesday) night," said Francona. "They were game-savers."

Oh, how quickly things can change.

Even though the scoreboard last night showed only two errors for the Red Sox, they were key ones. Already trailing by 3-0 with one out in the top of the second inning, Reese made a crucial error and things went south from there.

The Boston shortstop ranged to his left on a Bobby Crosby grounder, snared the ball but couldn't make the transfer. Oakland scored three more runs in that inning for a 6-0 advantage and the Sox couldn't recover.

The Sox went into last night's game with only one error in their previous six games and two miscues (in 336 chances) in the previous nine.

Rundown on rehabs

The Red Sox' walking wounded continued their rehab stints and there were some positive news on Trot Nixon yesterday. The injured right fielder remains in Florida and yesterday had four at-bats and played well in the field. Nixon has been battling a lower-back injury and a strained quadriceps, but he's coming along.

"He's running at about 75 percent," said Francona. "It's encouraging, but he's certainly not there yet. He feels it more on the bases than he does in the outfield. I was told he made a couple of really nice plays."

Nixon will be re-evaluated today and he'll play again tomorrow.

Nomar Garciaparra continued his workouts at Fenway Park and, according to Francona, felt good for the third straight day.

"I thought he was really upbeat (yesterday)," said the Boston skipper.

The All-Star shortstop will take a day off from his rehab routine today and work out with the rest of the club, and will face live pitching again tomorrow.

The club doesn't want to jump the gun and put an unrealistic return date, and Garciaparra continues to take it slowly. He looked strong during his workout yesterday, taking grounders and participating in two hitting sessions, with about 15 swings in each.

There's been talk that he could join the PawSox on the road in Toledo next week, but nothing has been confirmed. Francona said yesterday the club will make a decision on Monday.

Mueller surgery today

Red Sox third baseman Bill Mueller will have surgery on his right knee today in Phoenix, Ariz.. He and his family left Boston on Wednesday and he'll stay in Arizona after the procedure and work with a therapist. He'll return to Boston when he's ready to resume baseball activities and is expected to be out of the lineup for 4 to 6 weeks. In 36 games this season, the reigning American League batting champion was hitting .262 with five homers and 21 RBI.

Good impression

When Kevin Youkilis was recalled from Pawtucket on May 15, no one in the organization figured he would become the starting third baseman so quickly. But Mueller's injury changed everything. The early feedback on Youkilis has been positive.

"He's still a young player," said Francona. "And, it's a work in progress. But, he's done fine so far. Hopefully he helps us and plays better."

Prior to last night's game he was hitting .320 (8-for-25) with 10 runs, one home run and three RBI while reaching base safely in his first eight games.

Around the bases

There was no news yesterday on Byung-Hyun Kim, who is seeing a specialist in South Korea for his injured hip and back . . . According to Francona, first base coach Lynn Jones is very encouraged about the possibility of getting some of his eyesight back. Jones suffered the injury while fixing a water softener at his home earlier this month . . . Oakland starter Mark Mulder issued a career-high seven walks last night, beating his previous mark of five against the Texas Rangers in April of 2001.