Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was given medical clearance to start hitting off a batting tee. He took 20 swings in the cage on Monday morning. "It felt good," he said of his first swings since shoulder surgery late last year. "The shoulder is healthy, so it's just like normal. The only thing I had a concern with was the first couple of swings to see how it would respond. Once the first two swings felt great, I felt like taking 18 more swings." Gonzalez will hit off of a tee for each of the next two days as well and then will have Thursday off. He had shoulder surgery to repair the labrum in his right (non-throwing) shoulder last Oct. 20 and was told it would be four months before he could pick up a bat.