BOSTON — The Red Sox say it’s premature to make any definitive call on Josh Beckett’s status over the next week.

Beckett was in the clubhouse with a bandage on the middle finger of his right (throwing) hand. He injured the finger in Sunday’s win over Baltimore when he tore a piece of skin on the tip of the finger that knocked him out of the game after four innings. He played catch early yesterday and went out on the field for batting practice but wasn’t seen throwing the ball any harder than a light toss. The Sox will wait and see how Beckett responds to a few days of rest before determining whether he can make his next start, on Friday against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park.

“We won’t know a heck of a lot more. We’ll give him the next couple of days but the next event is his start. We have four days to determine that. We’ll give him some time to see how he reacts to it,” said manager Terry Francona.

The Sox will proceed slowly with Beckett, perhaps the best pitcher in the American League (7-0, 2.66 ERA) over the first six weeks of the season.

“We’ll obviously use a lot of common sense but we’ll also not rush into anything. We’ll see how he does,” Francona said.

In short, the Sox can’t say how long Beckett may be out. They’ll certainly have a better idea by tomorrow. Kyle Snyder appears to be the best in-house candidate for a spot-start if Beckett can’t go on Friday.

“We’ll kind of let the healing process begin and see what pace it’s going. The only thing you can really do is wait a couple days and see,” said Francona.

Manny’s OK

Manny Ramirez was back in the lineup after missing the ninth inning Sunday with a sore hamstring.

“He came in (yesterday) morning,” Francona said. “To his credit, he was here at 10 o’clock to ride the bike and get the blood flow through it. It’s appreciated.”

Ramirez is not often seen in the Sox clubhouse, but he was yesterday both before Francona’s 4 p.m. meeting with reporters and afterward.

Pedroia picks up pace

Dustin Pedroia seems to be settling in quite nicely after a rocky beginning to his rookie campaign.

Last night the second baseman made two outstanding defensive plays, one to his left and one to his right, helping out Daisuke Matsuzaka. He also chipped in a pair of hits. But it was in the field where Pedroia starred brightest last night.

He took a hit away from Neifi Perez in the fifth on a diving stab of a grounder in the hole to his left. And Pedroia stole a hit from Sean Casey on a grounder up the middle in the seventh. He threw out Casey from his knees.

“I had a good read on (Perez’s ball),” said Pedroia. “On Casey, I was shading him toward the hole but I got a good jump on it. The ball took a weird hop. It kicked up, which helped me.”

Pedroia was a shortstop for the most part in the minors, but has been working hard at improving as a second baseman, including extra work with infield coach Luis Alicea before home games.

“I’ve gotten a ton better since spring training,” said Pedroia. “You want to be the best you can be on defense to help out this pitching staff.”

Hanging tough

The key at-bats of the game belonged to Jason Varitek and Coco Crisp, coming back-to-back in the fourth inning.

Varitek staged a 10-pitch battle with Tigers starter Nate Robertson, reaching out several times to spoil tough pitches on the outer half of the plate, or even out of the strike zone away. Finally, he reached out and slapped a double into the right-field corner with two outs.

Crisp’s at-bat lasted nine pitches. He stayed alive on some tough pitches before lining a single to center that gave Boston a 2-1 lead.

Best comes last

The Sox have been saving the best for last.

In their final at-bats over the last three games, Boston has poured a total of 15 runs across the plate.

The Red Sox tallied five runs in the eighth inning of a win over Baltimore on Friday night; six in the ninth in rallying to beat the Orioles on Sunday and four last night in the eighth in the victory over the Tigers.

Good news for Timlin

Francona said that reliever Mike Timlin, on the disabled list because of tendonitis of the right shoulder, had an encouraging examination yesterday and should be able to throw in the next day or so. … Jon Lester was on the field and threw lightly. He wore a red sleeve on his left forearm, the same area that tightened up in his start in Pawtucket last week. Lester is scheduled to throw off the mound again at Fenway tomorrow.

pkenyon@projo.com