SAN DIEGO — A handful of Red Sox players mourned the shocking loss of a former teammate yesterday when they learned of the passing of former major-leaguer Rod Beck.

Beck, 38, was found dead in his home Saturday night in Phoenix. Word reached the Red Sox clubhouse yesterday morning through some of the Padres.

“I was absolutely floored when I heard the news,” said a shaken Tim Wakefield, his eyes welling with tears. “I’ve had a hard time dealing with it all day. He was one of my closest friends when he was here (1999-2001). He was one of the all-time, stand-up guys.”

Wakefield said he last talked briefly with Beck after the 2006 season, but failed to reach him on several occasions last winter.

An emotional Jason Varitek also remembered Beck fondly as “a great teammate, a great guy to be around and compete with. … I just can’t say enough about him.”

He remembered that his introduction to Beck came in-game, on the mound at Fenway. Beck arrived at Fenway after a game began. He put his uniform on, went down to the bullpen and was called into the game before the two had a chance to make introductions.

“We shook hands and then went over the signs,” said Varitek, smiling at the memory.

Backup catcher Doug Mirabelli was a teammate of Beck’s twice — once in San Francisco and later in Boston.

“If you played with him,” said Mirabelli, “you couldn’t help but like him. He was the ultimate teammate, the ultimate professional. He did everything right from a baseball standpoint.”

Buehrle to Beantown?

A story in the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday indicated the Red Sox are the front-runners for lefty Mark Buehrle, who is being marketed by the slumping White Sox, losers of 22 of their last 27.

Chicago general manager Kenny Williams, asked yesterday if Buehrle was going to be traded to Boston, replied cryptically: “Not today.”

The story also suggested that the Red Sox have let it be known that they would be willing to meet Buehrle’s asking price on a five-year contract extension. Buehrle is eligible for free agency after this season.

While the Red Sox are indeed interested in talking about Buehrle, it’s unlikely that they would invest in him long term. More likely, the Sox would rent Buehrle for the final two months, then offer him salary arbitration and gain draft picks as compensation.

If the White Sox are intent on wrestling Clay Buchholz or Jacoby Ellsbury from the Sox in exchange, the conversation will be over quickly. The Sox would be willing to part with some other prospects, but Buchholz and Ellsbury are strictly off-limits.

Gabbard goes tomorrow

Manager Terry Francona confirmed that tomorrow’s open pitching spot will be taken by Kason Gabbard.

The Sox selected Gabbard over Jon Lester in part “because there’s not a firm timetable for this. If it’s going to be (just) two or three starts, keeping Lester on his program is really important. To come up and go back is not in his best interest.”

The expectation is that Curt Schilling, whose spot Gabbard is taking temporarily, will return after missing just two starts.

Francona and GM Theo Epstein phoned Lester yesterday morning to explain the thought process behind the move.

“We wanted him to know,” said Francona, “that we only wanted to do the right thing.”

The manager went on to add that while the call was unusual, “these are extenuating circumstances,” a reference to Lester’s courageous comeback from cancer.

A needed breather

Kevin Youkilis was held out of his second straight game, giving his body some time to recover. Youkilis had played in 68 of the Red Sox’ first 73 games, and without the use of the DH yesterday, the Sox chose to sit Youkilis, much as they had done with Mike Lowell earlier in the week.

How low will he go?

Shortstop Julio Lugo remains in an offensive freefall. He was hitless in four plate appearances yesterday (two groundouts, one fielder’s choice and a walk), stretching his hitless string to 26 at-bats. In his last 34 at-bats, he has just one hit, dropping his average to .193 for the season.

Around the horn

Yesterday was the final interleague game of the season for the Sox, who finished at 12-6, a dip from last year when they went 16-2. The club’s 28-8 record combined for the last two seasons is the second-best in baseball behind only Detroit (28-7 going into last night). … The Sox have won their last seven road interleague series. … Brendan Donnelly will long-toss at a distance of 120 feet today in Seattle and could throw off a mound as soon as Wednesday. … The Sox and Padres drew 133,311, the largest crowd for a three-game series in the history of the four-year-old Petco Park.

smcadam@projo.com