Terry Francona said his ALCS roster will include 11 pitchers, one more than during the ALDS win over the Angels. The difference is Tim Wakefield will be activated and the Sox will only carry two catchers, meaning Kevin Cash is off the roster. Wakefield’s right shoulder has improved enough where he remains scheduled to start Game Four in Cleveland next week.

The Game Three starter, Daisuke Matsuzaka, threw a three-inning simulated game at the tail end of the Red Sox workout yesterday. Several Sox pitchers also threw long sessions this week as the team tries to make up for the extra time it’s enjoyed between games.

“I think it was pretty well worth the while,” said Francona. “Pretty much everybody threw an inning this week and all of our players got some at-bats. We wanted to keep guys in game shape without having us play an intra-squad game.”

-Kevin McNamara