Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester is scheduled to return from the disabled list on July 26 against the Royals. He will throw a side session on Monday and another "pretty significant" one on Wednesday, and another either Friday or Saturday before making the start the following Tuesday. "He was actually aggravated because he wanted to pitch on Friday," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "That's good news for us because he must feel good. We need to give him a chance to go out and not be stuck on 60 pitches in his first outing back." Lester was removed from his last start on July 5 after four no-hit innings with a lat strain and was placed on the disabled list.