01:00 AM EST on Saturday, April 1, 2006

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd is coming to the Nashua (N.H.) Pride.

Boyd and the team reached a tentative agreement Thursday for this season.

Pride Manager Butch Hobson says Boyd, 46, is a good pitcher with a passion for the game. He said he expected the former big leaguer would also be a role model for his younger players.

In 1986, Boyd helped pitch the Red Sox to the American League pennant.

Boyd pitched 10 seasons in the big leagues, posting a career record of 78-77 with a 4.04 ERA.

"I am the Can, and I'm going to come right at you with my best (stuff)," he once said. "If you can hit, I want to see how far Bo Jackson can hit the Oil Can."

Boyd appeared in 12 games for the Texas Rangers in 1991 before retiring from the majors.

ROUNDUP

SCHOTT AUCTION: Marge Schott wasn't a discerning collector of baseball memorabilia. Her stash included common drinking glasses, red canvas director's chairs with Reds logos, photos of her St. Bernard dogs and bats used by little-known players. But more than 500 people signed up to bid at yesterday's auction of Marge's "stuff," each hoping to take home a memory of the feisty former owner of the Reds. The auction took in $142,725 for Schott's foundation.

MARINERS GET CATCHER: Catcher Guillermo Quiroz was claimed by the Mariners off waivers from the Blue Jays yesterday. Quiroz, 24, played in 12 games with the Blue Jays last season, hitting .194 (7-for-36) with four RBI. Seattle returned left-hander Luis Gonzalez to the Dodgers. The 23-year-old was acquired by the Mariners on Dec. 15 from Colorado. He was 0-1 with an 8.18 ERA in eight spring-training games with the Mariners.

METS RELEASE PITCHERS: The Mets cut pitchers Jose Lima, Heath Bell and Yusaku Iriki to trim their major-league roster to 27. The pitchers will be assigned to minor-league teams within the organization, spokesman Donald Young said. The team will reduce its roster to the mandatory 25 players tomorrow, he said. Lima posted a 8.59 earned run average in five spring-training games while competing for the final starting pitcher spot with Mets. Bell, who compiled a 1.13 E.R.A., and Iriki, who had a 5.93 E.R.A., were trying to make the team as relievers.

RANGERS TWEAK ROTATION: Vicente Padilla will move up a day in the Rangers' rotation to fill Adam Eaton's spot as the No. 2 starter. Eaton has a strained tendon in the middle finger on his pitching hand, the same injury that put him on the disabled list twice last season with San Diego. Though Eaton was not placed on the DL yesterday, Texas manager Buck Showalter adjusted his rotation. Kevin Millwood will start the season-opener Monday against Boston as scheduled, and the rest of the rotation moves up a day. Padilla goes Tuesday night, Kameron Loe will pitch the series finale Wednesday against the Red Sox, and R.A. Dickey will pitch Thursday against Kansas City.

PUJOLS GOES DEEP: Albert Pujols would have liked it if yesterday's spring-training game against the Mets counted in the regular-season stats. Pujols homered three times, connecting once off Pedro Martinez and twice against Victor Zambrano in the Cardinals' 9-6 win at Port St. Lucie, Fla. Pujols hit a two-run shot off Martinez in the third inning and solo drives in the fifth and seventh. Martinez allowed three runs and four hits in four innings. He said his toe felt good during his second and final start of spring training. He walked three and struck out four.

UMPS WILL FILL IN: Preparing for their strike next week, minor-league umpires reversed course and decided to allow their members to work as fill-ins for major-league umps who are sick or on vacation. Andy Roberts, president of the Association of Minor League Umpires, said yesterday that the decision was made after consulting with Triple-A umps, who have filled temporary openings at the big-league level in recent years.