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Friday's lineup: No Papi

The lineup has been posted and David Ortiz is getting the night off against Dontrelle Willis. So is Trot Nixon, as Gabe Kapler gets his second consecutive start. The lineup:

Coco Crisp, CF
Mark Loretta, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Manny Ramirez, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
Jason Varitek, C
Gabe Kapler, RF
Alex Gonzalez, SS
Jason Johnson, P

Posted by Art  at 5:15 PM | Permalink

Press notes for Friday

Friday's pregame press notes, courtesy of the Red Sox' P.R. department . . .

DATE OPP. BOS TIME RED SOX STARTER OPPOSING STARTER TELEVISION
Fri., June 30 at FLA 7:35 p.m. RHP Jason Johnson (3-8, 5.96) LHP Dontrelle Willis (4-7, 4.05) NESN
Sat., July 1 at FLA 6:05 p.m. RHP Tim Wakefield (5-8, 3.86) RHP Brian Moehler (5-6, 6.55) NESN
Sun., July 2 at FLA 1:05 p.m. LHP Jon Lester (3-0, 2.95) RHP Josh Johnson (7-4, 2.20) NESN
Mon., July 3 at TB 7:15 p.m. RHP Josh Beckett (10-3, 4.64) LHP Scott Kazmir (9-5, 3.59) NESN
Tues., July 4 at TB 4:15 p.m. RHP Curt Schilling (10-2, 3.54) LHP Casey Fossum (3-3, 5.03) NESN
Wed., July 5 at TB 7:15 p.m. RHP Jason Johnson RHP Tim Corcoran (1-0, 2.16 +tonight) NESN
Thurs., July 6 at TB 7:15 p.m. RHP Tim Wakefield RHP James Shields (4-1, 4.37 +tomorrow) NESN
---All games broadcast on 103.7 WEEI-FM and the Red Sox radio network and the Red Sox Spanish-language radio network---

NO SWOON IN JUNE: Boston has a chance to lead the majors in batting average for the 2nd month in a row…the Red Sox paced the majors
with a .306 batting average in May.

CLUB BATTING LEADERS, JUNE
1. BOSTON .302
2. Chicago (AL) .297
3. Seattle .294
4. Colorado .290
5. St. Louis .288

A DANDY DOZEN: With a 12-game winning streak, the Red Sox have matched their 3rd-longest run in club history…Boston’s current tear is its longest in nearly 11 years…with a win tonight, the Red Sox would boast their longest winning streak in nearly 58 years…here’s a look at the 8 winning streaks of 12 or more in franchise history:

STREAK DATES
15: April 15-May 10, 1946
13: July 18-27, 1948
12: June 16, 2006 -
12: August 3-14, 1995
12: July 15-25, 1988
12: May 29-June 11, 1946
12: July 4-16, 1939
12: July 28-August 8, 1937

The 12-game run is the longest by any major league club since Houston won 12 in row August 27-September 8, 2004 and longest by an A.L. club since Tampa Bay’s 12-game streak from June 9-22, 2004 . . . The last major league team to post a winning streak of better than 12 games was Oakland during its epic 20-game run August 13-September 4, 2002 . . . 8 different pitchers have collected wins during Boston’s 12-game run: Josh Beckett (3), Jon Lester (3), Rudy Seanez (1), Kyle Snyder (1), Tim Wakefield (1), Jonathan Papelbon (1), Craig Hansen (1) and Curt Schilling (1)…Papelbon (4) and Mike Timlin (1) each have at least one save.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Following a perfect 9-0 homestand with Washington (3-0), Philadelphia (3-0) and the New York Mets (3-0), the Red Sox and their 12-game winning streak tonight begin a 10-day, 10-game trip through Florida (3 games), Tampa Bay (4) and Chicago (3) that takes the club to the All-Star Break . . . By the All-Star Break, the Red Sox will have played 49 games on the road and just 37 at home, leaving 44 games at Fenway and only 32 games on the road for the Red Sox after the break . . . This is Boston’s 3rd trip of at least 10 days already this season…after the All-Star Break, the Red Sox have only 5 road trips, 4 of which are less than one week in length.

ON THE RECORD: Owners of the 3rd-best record in baseball at 48-28 (.632) behind only the Tigers (54-25) and White Sox (51-27), the Red Sox boast their best record through 76 games in 20 years, when the 1986 club went 50-26 to start the season (with a loss in game 77) . . . In the last 60 seasons starting in 1947, the Red Sox have been 20 games above .500 after 76 games just twice: 1986 and 1978 (52-24 with a win in game 77) . . . The Red Sox enter the day with a season-high 4.0-game lead in the A.L. East, Boston’s largest margin since a 4.0-game edge September 10, 2005…the Red Sox were last more than 4.0 games up on August 17 (4.5) and August 13 (5.0) in 2005.

INTERLEAGUE INTRIGUE: The Red Sox are 14-1 vs. the National League this season and have won 12 games in a row in interleague play, matching the major league record held by the Devil Rays (June 9-26, 2004) and the Yankees (June 12, 2003-June 10, 2004)…the Red Sox have the highest winning percentage (.929) in interleague play this season…the best single-season winning percentage in interleague history belongs to the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals (11-1, .917)…the 2002 Oakland A’s own the record for most wins after going 16-2 . . . Boston’s 14 wins are its most ever against the National League in a single season, shattering the previous mark of 12 set in 2005…the Red Sox have won 18 of their last 19 (.947) and are 23-2 in their last 25 interleague contests beginning June 12, 2005.

HELLO MY NAME IS . . . Tonight’s Red Sox starter Jason Johnson will become the 22nd pitcher to appear for the Red Sox this season…in 2005, the Sox saw 26 pitchers make an appearance all season…this year, 15 different pitchers have already collected a win for the Sox, matching the club’s season-long total from 2005 . . . The Red Sox last had more than 15 pitchers win a game in an entire season in 2003, when 16 pitchers were victorious . . . Of the 25 players currently on Boston’s active roster, 10 were not in the organization at the end of 2005.

DYNAMIC DUO: Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett each reached 10 wins this season in the last 2 games…, Schilling and Beckett are just the 3rd pair of Red Sox teammates in the last 60 years each with 10 or more wins by the end of July…the join Roger Clemens and Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd in 1986 and Clemens and Mike Boddicker in 1990 (research: Elias Sports Bureau).

LORETTA ROLLS ON: Mark Loretta enters tonight with a 12-game hitting streak (.451, 23-for-51), trailing only Pittsburgh’s Freddy Sanchez (13) for the longest active run in baseball.

IN 2006: The Red Sox and Marlins meet tonight for the first time since 2003, when the Sox won 2 of 3 games at Fenway Park...this 3-game weekend set is Boston’s first in Miami since 2000, when the Sox won 2 of 3 games.

ALL-TIME: Boston holds an 11-7 edge in the all-time regular season series…the Red Sox are 7-5 at home and 4-2 in Florida…in 6 total series, Boston has won 2 of 3 games each of the last 5, dropping a series just once in their first meeting in 1997 (1-2).

YOU LOOK FAMILIAR.: The Red Sox have 6 players on their 25-man roster or disabled list that have spent time in South Florida…Josh Beckett (2001-05), Mike Lowell (1999-2005) and Alex Gonzalez (1998-2005) won World Series rings with the Marlins in 2003…Matt Clement spent a season here in 2001, Julian Tavarez played for Florida in 2002 and Rudy Seanez spent part of 2004 with the Marlins . . . Additionally, Alex Cora batted .294 during 3 seasons with the University of Miami, earning a spot on the College World Series All-Tournament Team in 1995 and 1996…he went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI in the 9-8 World Series title game loss to LSU in 1996.

DEFENSE RECORD: The Red Sox last night set the A.L. record and tied the major league mark by playing their 16th errorless game in a row . . . Boston has equaled the major league record set by the St. Louis Cardinals July 30-August 16, 1992…the Sox broke the A.L. mark of 15 previously held by the Rangers from August 4-19, 1996…Boston’s last error occurred June 11 vs. Texas (Kevin Youkilis in the first game of a doubleheader)…the Sox have handled 633 errorless chances since . . . Boston’s 23 errors through June 29 are the fewest by a major league team since research is first available in 1960.

PREVIOUSLY ON 24: Jonathan Papelbon last night matched the Red Sox single-season rookie saves record with his 24th save…Dick Radatz earned 24 saves as a rookie in 1962.

200, 2000: David Ortiz last night connected for his 200th major league homer…142 of the home runs have come in 513 games as a Red Sox while 58 were hit in 455 games as a Twin . . . Manny Ramirez enters the day with 1,996 career hits, 4 shy of 2,000.

Posted by Art  at 2:46 PM | Permalink