Daisuke Matsuzaka came through his rehab appearance fine ... David Ortiz has the cast off his wrist ... Bartolo Colon left his outing early Monday with a sore back ... and reports out of Philadelphia have Curt Schilling halting his workouts for now after a "sluggish" bullpen session last week.

The good news for Portland fans is the that the Sea Dogs return briefly from a long road trip.

And before I forget, I need to correct some statistics on Justin Masterson.

First, Dice-K.

He pitched for Triple-A Pawtucket Monday night at Lehigh Valley (Allentown, Pa.), going five innings (3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K ... 65 pitches/47 strikes).

Dice-K faced the minimum 12 batters through 4.0 innings (one batter reached on error and was caught stealing) before allowing 3 hits and 2 runs in the 5th ... Chris Smith, by the way, got his 8th save (2/3 IP; ERA now at 1.52).

Ortiz apparently is pain free, which allowed the cast to come off. The next new to wait for is when Papi can swing a bat ... just like we have to wait to hear the next update on Schilling and his shoulder.

If Colon has to skip a start, does Masterson stay in the rotation?

The Sea Dogs are back in Portland for a three-game series with New Britain, before leaving for another week. Game time tonight is 7.

In Lancaster, the usual suspects continue to swat away ... Jorge Jimenez (3-4, now .361); Josh Reddick (3-5, .338); and Daniel Nava (3-5, .365).

When I last gave Justin Masterson's statistics against left-handed and right-handed batters, I used on-base percentages instead of batting average (these old eyes goofed on the abbreviations).

Here are the real stats:

Against right-handed batters, Masterson has allowed 7 hits and 5 walks. Opponents are batting .130, with a .203 on-base percentage and a .222 slugging percentage, with one home run.

Left-handed hitters have 11 hits, 10 walks and two HBP's against Masterson. They are hitting .208, with a .354 on-base percentage, and a .509 slugging average, with four home runs.

Masterson better keep the ball low Wednesday in that home run derby ballpark in Philly.

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