Sox

1. Jacoby Ellsbury lf
2. Dustin Pedroia 2b
3. J.D. Drew rf
4. Mike Lowell 3b
5. Kevin Youkilis 1b
6. Jason Varitek c
7. Coco Crisp cf
8. Julio Lugo ss
9. Josh Beckett p

Legs

1. Jay Bruce cf
2. Jolbert Cabrera ss
3. Ken Griffey Jr. rf
4. Brandon Phillips 2b
5. Adam Dunn lf
6. Edwin Encarnacion 3b
7. Joey Votto 1b
8. David Ross c
9. Homer Bailey p

* Today is Dusty Baker's birthday, as well as Father's Day.

Baker said his sister sent some of her frozen enchiladas with his wife when she flew out here. Not only did his wife come out with their son Darren, but also his older daughter Natosha, flew in to surrpise him for his birthday and Father's Day.

Tonight's just going to be a relaxing family night, with enchiladas on the menu.

"Eat them and watch Sunday Night Baseball," Baker said. "Sounds like a pretty good evening. Sit on the deck and eat 'em, watch the river."

Baker's son Darren threw out a first pitch for Father's Day, with his dad catching.

* As for Cabrera at short, Baker said he wanted the offense against the tougher pitcher, in the Sox's Beckett.

Baker defended Janish and his offensive struggles.

"The reports were he needed to improve his offense," Baker said of Janish coming out of spring. "He went to triple-A and he was vastly improved, but we had to call him here out of necessity, when you would have liked to see him stay there and improve some more."

When asked if there's room in today's game for a starter who is stricktly a glove guy, Baker again defended Janish.

"No, he's not strictly a glove guy," Baker said. "Almost every day and age you have to hit some. Like I said, he was improving big-time. It's too early to say he's not going to hit. It ain't that easy to just come out of the minor leagues and come up here and hit. He's going to get better up here. There are a bunch of guys that came up here and struggled early. Some of them are in the Hall of Fame. Remember, Ozzie Smith struggled, but he learned how to do it. Larry Bowa struggled, but he learned how to do it."

Hal McCoy noted Davey Concepcion.

"Concepcion, what did he hit? .180, .190?" Baker asked. "Right. You understand? But he was also on a team that can carry you. Look at Mark Belanger. He was on a high-powered offense that can carry him. A lot of it depends on what kind of offense you have surrounding these guys. Like I said, it's too early to label what he can do and what he can't do. 

It was noted that players aren't being given that chance anymore.

"That's because we're impatient," Baker said. "We're a lot more impatient now. We're much more oriented to win now, instead of trying to developing somebody. It's like, `OK, he can't do it. Get him out and get another guy in.' And that's not right, but that's how it is."

Someone mentioned that the jump from Triple-A to the big leagues is the biggest transition in baseball.

"Now. It didn't used to be, but it is now. It used to be, Triple-A was a lot of former major leaguers teaching the minor leaguers how to play," Baker said. "When I came up, there were very few Triple-A teams that were all young. If they were, then they were an exceptional draft, guys who come together -- the Dodgers, the Orioles. We didn't have that on the Braves. We had three or four prospects there and a lot of guys who were former major leaguers. It all depends on the organization you're in.

"Sometimes an organization's strength is a certain position. Sometimes they're outfield-strong. The Angels had three or four shortstops that were capable of being in the big leagues. Some guys were pitching-strong. You figure we lost Gonzalez, we lost Keppinger, Jerry Hairston. How many teams lose three shortstops and have four that you can put it there? Not many. Most times you lose that, you're going to double-A or high-A, or you've got to go trade for somebody."

* The other day I asked about Cueto and his struggles, Baker said he had someone look up the rookie stats of the core of Braves pitchers from the early 90s. Steve Avery was 3-11 with a 5.64 ERA, Greg Maddux was 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA, Glavine was 7-17 with a 4.56 ERA and Smoltz was 2-7 with a 5.48 ERA.

"At this point, he's way ahead of them," Baker said with a laugh. "Imagine if (Cueto) was 7-17, they'd be like get him out of here. It's some things you're curious about. We see the end result of these guys. I remember one of the biggest mistakes the Cardinals made was trading Carlton, I don't think he remembers he lost 20."

Baker was asked if you look for progress or results from a young pitcher like Cueto.

"You want both. You want to see progress and then progress in results as well," Baker said. "That's what you want. You take away this year and lok at Detroit's staff and where they were. Who lost 19? Bonderman?"

Things are looking up with the minor leagues, Baker said, noting Daryl Thomson's performance in Lousiville's 4-1 victory over Rochester Saturday. Thompson gave up one run on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts in 8.2 innings. Josh Roenicke picked up his second save with the other out.

"The good news is we've got some more dudes coming soon. Roenicke is coming quickly, Thompson threw a great game last night, 8 2/3s," Baker said. "There's some competition that's coming that can push some of the guys that are here or pass up some of the guys that are here. We liked what we saw of Roenicke in spring big time. What we saw froma  guy in a short period of time for a guy who wasn't even a pitcher. Guys are raving about Thompson too. God knows who else is coming. When they start coming, hopefully we have os many we've got to make a decision on who to keep and who to trade for something we need."

* Also last night at Rochester, Jeff Keppinger played third and went 1-for-2 with a walk and run scored, Norris Hopper played center and had a hit in four at-bats.

* Drew Stubbs was the Florida State League All-Star Game MVP, hitting a two-run homer in hte 9-3 West Division victory. DH Juan Francisco also had a hit, leftfielder Chris Heisey was 0-for-2 and RHP Ramon Geronimo pitched a perfect 2/3 inning.