ST. PETERSBURG -- Frustrated over his lack of control early on in games, Lenny DiNardo suggested maybe he needed to shake up his pregame routine a bit.

The left-hander gave up four runs to the Devil Rays in the first three innings on Saturday before settling to face just one batter over the minimum in his final two innings. In his previous start, Toronto got to DiNardo for seven runs off 10 hits in the first three innings.

"Early in the game, it seems like [there's] a tendency for me [to struggle]," DiNardo said. "It's a battle early on."

DiNardo said he's able to perform better after he's logged a few innings, and because of that, he is considering allowing more time and activity before the game begins.

"I need to get out there and maybe throw three innings in the bullpen [first], maybe run a little bit," he said. "It seems like I'm throwing better when I'm sweating."

Boston manager Terry Francona preferred to look on the bright side, noting that after a rocky three innings on Saturday, DiNardo was able to pull himself together and give two more innings.

"He needed to [settle down]," said Francona. "Not only were we losing the game, but getting into a dangerous part of the game where we were going through our bullpen, which is not what we wanted to do."

Wells update: David Wells is getting better, but his rehab is definitely going to be a long process. Francona said the 43-year-old Wells got the final in a series of Synvisc -- a joint lubricant -- shots on Saturday and was given the day off to rest.

"It's probably going to have to be a little bit of a progression," Francona said. "[Throwing at 150 feet] has never been hard for him, arm-wise; it's just getting over that knee has been the toughest thing for him.

"His arm has always been so solid ... he was just heavin' it. Then he got to Pawtucket, and things just fell apart."

Wells has been rehabbing his right knee from offseason surgery and has spent two different stints on the disabled list.

Umpires: Francona didn't anticipate any problems during Sunday's series finale, despite the recent spate of hit batsmen between the teams. Rays starter Doug Waechter hit Melvin Cora on Saturday night, and in the bottom of the same inning, DiNardo planted a pitch in the middle of Carl Crawford's back. DiNardo said it wasn't intentional, but he received a warning from the umpire, who warned the bench as well. A day earlier, Tampa Bay starter Casey Fossum hit two Red Sox in the same inning.

Facing foes: When the Red Sox return to Fenway to host the Yankees on Monday, they'll be facing the Bombers for the first time this season. At this point in 2005, the teams had already squared off six times, including each team's home opener. Francona welcomes this year's later kickoff to the rivalry.

"It's good to kind of get your legs under you a little bit before the circus starts," he said.

Did you know? Not only has designated hitter Manny Ramirez hit the most home runs (21) of any visiting player at Tropicana Field, he's fourth on the overall list that includes Devil Rays. Only Aubrey Huff (65), Fred McGriff (52) and Greg Vaughn (26) have hit more.

In addition, Ramirez's 57 career RBIs at Tampa Bay are 17th best of any player overall.

By the numbers: Boston scored three more runs (nine) on Saturday than it had in the previous three games combined.

Up next: Boston heads home to face the Yankees for the first time this season. Red Sox righty Tim Wakefield will make his 40th career appearance against the Yankees. New York will send Chien-Ming Wang to the mound, a right-hander who allowed two earned runs in seven innings in his last start against Tampa Bay. Game time is 7:15 p.m. ET.