updated 5:25 p.m. ET Aug. 3, 2006

BOSTON - Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek had arthroscopic knee surgery Thursday and was expected to begin rehabilitation immediately, though there was no timetable given for when Boston’s captain could return.

Team medical director Dr. Thomas Gill, who performed the surgery for torn cartilage in Varitek’s left knee, indicated that it went as planned. Varitek originally hurt his knee when Angels catcher Mike Napoli slid into him while blocking the plate on Saturday. On Monday, Varitek was rounding second on Coco Crisp’s second-inning single when things got worse.

He left the game in the third inning and was placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday.

Doug Mirabelli is expected to start most of Boston’s games in his absence. The Red Sox called up Ken Huckaby from Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday as a backup.

At the time of his injury, Varitek was batting .243 with 11 homers and 50 RBI in 85 games.

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