Back pain sidelines Beckett

Josh Beckett experienced back spasms and left the field after throwing six warmup pitches before his scheduled start against the Florida Marlins at Fort Myers, Fla., and the Boston Red Sox said they didn’t know when their ace would be able to pitch again.

Beckett, the only 20-game winner in the majors last year, was examined Saturday and will be examined again today, Manager Terry Francona said.

Jose Canseco is expected to be interviewed by IRS agent Jeff Novitzky, who is aiding in the FBI’s perjury investigation of Roger Clemens, the New York Daily News reported.

Brian McNamee, Clemens’ former trainer who testified to Congress that he injected the pitcher with steroids and human grown hormone, and Clemens, who denied using those substances, have given conflicting accounts about whether Clemens attended a 1998 party at Canseco’s home.

Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan said baseball finally was addressing the use of performance-enhancing drugs by major leaguers after previously ignoring the problem.

“Baseball turned its back on the problem and ignored it,” said Ryan, now president of the Texas Rangers. “Any time you realize you have a problem, the longer you go without addressing that problem, then when you do decide to address it, the tougher it is to do.”

Commissioner Bud Selig said he had no plans to read any of Barry Bonds’ grand jury testimony that was ordered released by a judge just over a week ago. . . . New York Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli suffered a broken right wrist in a home-plate collision with Tampa Bay’s Elliot Johnson in Tampa, Fla. . . . Freddie Bynum will have surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee and sit out at least five weeks, ending his bid to be Baltimore’s opening-day shortstop.