According to the Sox, the fracture in the wrist lined up and the soft cast was removed. The plan was to get him moving on his range-of-motion drills and then have him fly to Kansas City on Friday. There, he is scheduled to take dry swings and further test the wrist.

"He's supposed to hit the first day in KC," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He's supposed to. One thing about it, I don't want to rush this kid and all of a sudden we lose him for maybe another month. But we got to take the thing easy and don't rush him.

"And he will make the call when he can come back or not. I want to wait for him to see what he says, how he does and how he feels, and then we see what we're going to do."

As far as him returning before the end of the season, that remains to be seen, but the Sox were pleased with his recovery so far.

They did warn, however, that if there were any setbacks they would likely shut him down.

The Sox were expecting to hear an update on Joe Crede and the second opinion he got with his back, but they did not make an announcement Wednesday night.

YANKEES 5, WHITE SOX 1: Clayton Richard got little help from his offense, and the Sox bullpen that continued to betray them. Guillen might be criticized for leaving the rookie pitcher in one batter too long in the seventh inning, but what choice did he have? "Our bullpen is struggling right now," Guillen explained, "and that's why I'm trying to keep the starters in as long as I can." With runners on second and third and the score tied, reliever Mike MacDougal replaced Richard and promptly threw a wild pitch to give New York the lead, and the Sox never recovered.