Right-hander Matt Mantei won't pitch again this season. After a couple of weeks of deliberation, the reliever decided he will undergo season-ending surgery to repair ligament damage in his left ankle. The news was hardly a surprise, as the Red Sox expected Mantei would make that choice, in that any other decision would place his status for next season in serious jeopardy. "I couldn't repeat my delivery anymore, I was trying to get off my ankle so fast," sad Mantei. "It just got to the point where I couldn't do it anymore. I started to feel sore in my arm and the back of my knee." Mantei is eligible for free agency in November and would be open to returning to the Red Sox. "One of the first things [general manager] Theo [Epstein] said two weeks ago was that they wanted me back, and they wanted me back healthy next year," said Mantei. "So I think he was on the same page with me as far as getting it fixed."