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Talking with Tito

Terry Francona just wrapped his pre-game chat, and as to the hot topic of the afternoon - the finals hours of Final Vote and the push to get Hideki Okajima on the AL All-Star team, Francona said he hasn't voted enough, but has his kids logging votes for the lefty reliever.

"The last time I tried to do something like that, I think I voted for someone by accident," Francona said. "So I may not be the one to help him."

Voting online at mlb.com and via text messaging - text "A5" to 36197 - ends at 6 o'clock and the results will be announced later tonight.

Francona said Kevin Youkilis called him earlier today and didn't feel as good as it had been hoped he would after a day of rest yesterday.

"We're trying to keep this from being a 10-12 day thing and keep it a 2-3 day thing," Francona said.

Rookie Jacoby Ellsbury will be back on the bench tonight, and while Francona likes what he sees from the young outfielder so far, he cautioned, "he's not on his way to Cooperstown - yet. His future is very bright, but he's not a finished product yet. He's not supposed to be."

Injured reliever Brendan Donnelly will play long toss tomorrow and is then slated for a bullpen session, while Joel Piniero is a bit further along in his recovery and will make an appearance with Lowell on Wednesday.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 4:18 PM | Permalink