Garciaparra

CLEVELAND -- Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra made another step toward his return on Thursday by taking some live batting practice for the first time since undergoing wrist surgery.

"I took five swings," Garciaparra said. "Nothing big. Hopefully, I'll be able to take a few more."

Garciaparra had only been hitting off a tee and doing soft toss drills before testing the wrist during batting practice before the series finale between the Red Sox and Indians at Jacobs Field.

"It went fine," he said.

Garciaparra underwent surgery on April 2 and only began throwing a ball last month. He said he was encouraged by the batting session, but still doesn't want to guess at when he might be back.

"We never set a timetable on it," Garciaparra said. "We won't now. We're just still trying to build the strength back up and do what it allows me to do.

"I knew I'd get to this point eventually and we'll just have to wait and see how it feels. We're not in any rush."

The Red Sox have managed to stay near the top in the AL East -- they entered Thursday night one-half game behind New York -- without their All-Star shortstop, but Boston manager Jimy Williams would love to have Garciaparra in his every day lineup.

"Nomar is going in the right direction," Williams said. "I'm very happy about that. He took BP today and he has been throwing good, too. That's a good sign for his wrist."

Williams said he is more optimistic about Garciaparra getting back soon, but doesn't want to take any chances.

"We want his input on what to do and we want to do the right thing," Williams said. "Our training staff has done a good job."

Garciaparra first injured his wrist when he was hit by a pitch and split a tendon in September 1999. He said he plans to take a few more swings each day as he continues to build get his strength back.

"I'll keep doing whatever I can to get it ready," he said.