OAKLAND, Calif. — In a cruel twist of fate, Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester, who won a battle over non-Hodgkins lymphoma 18 months ago, recently learned that his father, John, is now suffering from a form of lymphoma, too.

Lester, who learned of the diagnosis in April, revealed the news when he was interviewed here for ESPN’s Sunday Night Conversation by Erin Andrews.

In the interview, Lester says his father has been undergoing treatment for the disease and has two more to go. He told Andrews that his father will someday “die with (the cancer), not from it.”

The two were scheduled to reunite last night as the Sox flew from the Bay Area to Seattle. The Lesters live in nearby Puyallup, Wash. The senior Lester had been a sheriff in Tacoma.

Asked after yesterday’s loss how much his father’s condition has been weighing on him, Lester answered: “It hasn’t.”

He said he didn’t reveal the illness “because I want to focus more on my pitching. I didn’t want to be asked about it; that’s between me and my dad. When I’m at the ballpark, I want to focus on this.”

Lester had told few of his teammates of the diagnosis, and he did inform manager Terry Francona, with whom he enjoys a close relationship.

Francona said Lester has been able to go about his work despite the news. “You go do your job (despite setbacks),” said Francona. “You either handle it or you don’t handle it. We all have responsibilities.”

Manny revived

Manny Ramirez returned to the lineup after a night off and collected singles in his first two at-bats before adding a two-run single in the fifth. He finished the day 3-for-4, collecting one more hit yesterday than he had in his previous 23 at-bats combined.

“I got (my swing) back,” said Ramirez, “but I’m not going to know if I got it (fully) back until the end of the year when I check my stats.”

Francona, too, thought that the off-day was beneficial.

“I thought Manny swung the bat great,” said Francona. “He hit the ball all over the ballpark. It’s hard not to play him, but I think it helped him (to get a night off).”

It may have helped Ramirez that he was facing Oakland starter Joe Blanton, against whom he’s now hitting .591 (13-for-22) in his career.

Colon goes tonight

Bartolo Colon will make his second start for the Sox tonight as the club opens a three-game series against Seattle.

A sixth sense

Until tonight, Sox starters had enjoyed an extra day of rest, thanks to the insertion of Justin Masterson into the lineup earlier in the week, a day ahead of Colon’s debut.

Going with a sixth starter, at least occasionally, is something Francona wishes he could do throughout the season.

“It would be great,” Francona said. “We try to do what’s right. It’s nice to give (starters some extra rest). I do think (the rest) helped (Josh) Beckett last year when he missed a couple of starts with the avulsion (on his finger). I certainly don’t think it hurt him.”

Was it just us?

The Sox — and Francona in particular — were interested to see how Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw did in his major-league debut yesterday.

Kershaw, who began the year at Double A, got the Sox’ attention during spring training when he faced them in a Grapefruit League contest in Vero Beach. Francona raved about the rookie’s stuff and recalled Kershaw overmatching Sean Casey.

“It’s rare that you see the whole dug-out watching to see what someone can do,” said Francona. “You love seeing good players coming into the game; you just don’t want to see him beat you.”

Around the bases

Julio Lugo committed an error — one of three by the Sox — in the ninth, with an errant throw on a routine grounder by Ryan Sweeney. The error was Lugo’s 12th of the season — tops among major- league shortstops — and fifth in his last 16 games. Lester and Ramirez committed the other two miscues. … The first inning homer for David Ortiz was his 236th as a DH, putting him ahead of Harold Baines in that department. Only Edgar Martinez (242) and Frank Thomas (268) have more in baseball history. … Kevin Youkilis was hitless in the game (0-for-4) and has yet to collect a hit on the trip, going 0-for-11. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia is also off to a rough start on the trip. He went 0-for-3 with a walk yesterday and is just 1-for-11 in the last three games. … The loss came after the Sox had won three in a row in the daytime and four of their last five. They came into the game hitting .320 in day games, best in the majors, but had just seven hits yesterday. … Mike Timlin pitched a scoreless ninth and has allowed just two runs in his last nine innings of work, covering eight appearances.

smcadam@projo.com