Jacoby Ellsbury expected lots of family and friends to watch him in the Seattle series.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

SEATTLE –– Last night was a homecoming for Jon Lester –– who grew up in a suburb of nearby Tacoma –– and Jacoby Ellsbury, who played at Oregon State and grew up in Madras, Ore., about five hours from Seattle.

Lester got to spend time Sunday night and yesterday with his father, John, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Lester hadn’t seen his father since the diagnosis was made in April.

“I’m glad to be home for a little bit and catch up with some of my family that I haven’t seen for a little while,” said Lester. “I haven’t been home since Christmas, so it’s good to see everybody. I’ll go see my grandparents tomorrow and some of my other family and catch up.”

The senior Lester, who is still undergoing treatment, was at the game and watched batting practice on the field. His son, meanwhile, fresh off his no-hit effort a week ago last night, held a press conference in the Safeco Field visitor’s dugout to accommodate all the local media requests.

Ellsbury, who had not played in the Pacific Northwest since coming to the big leagues, was expecting “hundreds” of family and friends from his hometown and college area.

He attempted to obtain as many tickets as he could for last night, but couldn’t procure enough to help everyone.

Still, it was an opportunity for Ellsbury backers to come see him play (relatively) nearby, as Ellsbury himself had done as a youngster, making the drive to the Kingdome, to watch his favorite player, Ken Griffey Jr.

“They’re excited,” said Ellsbury of the many fans, “especially because they don’t have to fly across the country to get to see me play. A bunch of family and friends will get a chance to get together and hang out a little bit. It will just be nice seeing everybody I haven’t seen in a while.”

Youkilis scratched

Some discomfort in Kevin Youkilis’ right hand forced a late lineup change for the Red Sox in last night’s series opener against the slumping Mariners.

Youkilis told manager Terry Francona that the hand was bothering him when he arrived at Safeco Field yesterday afternoon, though he couldn’t pinpoint the origin of the injury.

Francona advised Youkilis to take some swings in the cage to test the hand, and when Youkilis felt some pain in the area, it was decided to give him the night off. Sean Casey, who hadn’t played since May 17, was inserted into the lineup, hitting eighth.

Youkilis will continue to get treatment on the hand and is considered day-to-day. He had been hitless in the weekend series in Oakland, going 0-for-12.

Sad news

The Sox were stunned to learn of the death of Geremi Gonzalez, 33, who was killed Sunday after being hit by lightning in his native Venezuela.

Gonzalez appeared in 28 games for the Sox in 2005 and also pitched for the Cubs, Rays, Mets and Brewers in a career that stretched from 1997 through 2006.

“You don’t expect to hear anything like that,” said Francona. “I was shocked.”

Several players recalled that Gonzalez was terrible recalling names and referred to almost everybody — including teammates and members of the coaching staff — as “my friend, my friend.”

Francona recalled former Red Sox bullpen coach Bill Haselman forcing Gonzalez to learn teammates’ names in the bullpen during games.

“I tell you what, though,” said Francona. “He’d take the ball every day.”

Sticking with Lugo

Francona stuck with shortstop Julio Lugo in the lineup last night despite Lugo’s major league-leading 12th error Sunday in Oakland.

“We’d rather work with him than point fingers,” said Francona. “(Lugo has committed) more errors than we’re comfortable with and I’m sure he’s been thinking about (the errors).”

Francona said the team would continue to use Alex Cora in the late innings in games in which the Sox lead and have Lugo continue to work with infield coach Luis Alicea.

Around the bases

Catcher Jason Varitek sported camouflage catcher’s gear in honor of Memorial Day. The gear will be auctioned off on redsox.com, with proceeds benefiting the Massachusetts Legacy Fund. … Last night was the 2,000th career game for Manny Ramirez, something only 210 players in the game’s history have achieved. Eight other active players have reached that plateau. The last player to reach the milestone in a Red Sox uniform was Ellis Burks, who did so at the end 2004.

smcadam@projo.com