Keith Foulke's stiff back had a direct bearing on Jermaine Van Buren being shipped back to the minors despite several strong outings with Boston.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 8, 2006

BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

NEW YORK -- They wear uniforms. They swing baseball bats. They throw pitches and they field ground balls and fly balls.

But as much as they are professional baseball players, they also are, in some senses, dominoes.

Each player's performance or health can have a direct impact on another player's opportunity to either get into the big-league lineup or stay in the majors.

Which brings us to the Boston Red Sox, whose game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium last night was rained out, to be made up during the Sox' next visit to the Bronx Sept. 15-17.

While the Yankees have been getting a lot of publicity for their numerous injuries and subsequent plugging of holes by such players as Melky Cabrera and Andy Phillips, the Red Sox haven't exactly been the healthiest bunch in the American League East, either.

Take, for example, Boston's bullpen, and follow the falling dominoes.

When Mike Timlin's right shoulder became sore, forcing the dependable late-inning reliever to the disabled list on May 28, manager Terry Francona lost a comfortable bullpen option.

That left him, in effect, with Keith Foulke and Jonathan Papelbon as his late-inning options, not that Francona would ever say he didn't have faith in another pair of right-handers, Rudy Seanez and Julian Tavarez, out of the 'pen.

Francona's bullpen, though, got even thinner on June 1. The previous day, Foulke pitched in Toronto. But his back stiffened up after the outing to the point to where Francona had to stay away from using him or risk a brief outing and a trip to the disabled list.

Enter Jermaine Van Buren and Manny Delcarmen. Suddenly, these right-handed relievers, called up from Pawtucket, had to play a bigger role, especially given the abbreviated starts on this trip -- only one start in eight lasted as many as seven innings.

Along the way, situations have arisen when Francona couldn't make the move he would have liked.

One such instance occurred Tuesday night. The bases were loaded, two were out in the seventh in a 1-1 game. Slugger Jason Giambi was at the plate. Francona pointed to the bullpen and in trotted Seanez, the domino effect in full force.

"That was a perfect Foulke situation," said Francona yesterday. "Giambi up. Foulke throws strikes. He's had success against him (Giambi was only 3-for-19)."

But he couldn't go to Foulke. Francona's choices for that dangerous confrontation were limited by injury and overuse. Seanez came in and walked Giambi, forcing in the run that gave New York a 2-1 win and boosted the Yankees into a 1 1/2-game lead over the Red Sox in the A.L. East.

The fact Foulke has been unavailable for so many days, and the fact he isn't likely to be available until this weekend, had Boston officials considering placing him on the disabled list retroactive to June 1.

That plan, however, had to be scrapped because the Red Sox wouldn't have been able to make the corresponding roster move they would have wanted to make.

So Foulke continues to get treatment on his back.

"It hurts when I pitch," said Foulke yesterday. "It's the first time it's bothered me since the playoffs in 2003. When it's better, it's better."

And how far was he away from throwing off a mound?

"Well, it's about 50 feet from here to the dugout, and maybe another 30 feet to the mound . . . ," said Foulke in his typically prickly/joking style.

Foulke's status had a direct bearing on Van Buren, who had looked good in posting three scoreless outings on the trip before a four-walk, one-hit performance on Monday in the Sox' 13-5 embarrassment to the Yanks.

The Sox, their bullpen thinned, needed a fresh arm for Tuesday night to back up David Pauley, not knowing how long the right-hander, in his second big-league start after getting called up from Double-A to replace David Wells (bruised knee) in another domino move, would be able to last.

So they called up Craig Hansen from Pawtucket and optioned Van Buren back to the PawSox. Van Buren did not pitch himself back to the minors. It was circumstances that caused his demotion. But then Van Buren was told not to go anywhere because the Red Sox were talking about placing Foulke on the DL.

Normally a pitcher has to stay in the minors for 10 days before being eligible to return to the majors. But if a big-league pitcher is hurt, he can be recalled before that 10-day period is up. Not, however, if a pitcher is placed on the DL on a retroactive basis.

The Sox wanted to backdate Foulke's stay on the DL to June 1 since he hadn't been in a game since May 31 because they don't think it will take the full 15 days of DL time for him to be ready, as of yesterday. So, the Foulke domino fell onto Van Buren, who was packing his bag in the Sox' clubhouse at Yankee Stadium yesterday, understanding the business of baseball.

"You've just got to roll with it," said Van Buren. "It's all right. I'll be back. I kind of figured (this would happen). They told me it's not because of how I pitched. They told me to be ready to come back. It's no big deal."

It's just the way the dominoes fall in the big leagues sometimes.

skrasner@projo.com / (401) 277-7340