DATE OPP. BOS TIME RED SOX STARTER OPPOSING STARTER TELEVISION
Fri., June 23 PHI 7:05 p.m. RHP Josh Beckett (8-3, 5.09) RHP Ryan Madson (7-4, 5.79) NESN
Sat., June 24 PHI 1:25 p.m. RHP Curt Schilling (9-2, 3.55) RHP Brett Myers (5-3, 3.77) FOX 25
Sun., June 25 PHI 2:05 p.m. RHP Tim Wakefield (5-8, 3.82) RHP Cory Lidle (4-6, 5.00) NESN
Tue., June 27 NYM 7:05 p.m. LHP Jon Lester (2-0, 2.76) LHP Alay Soler (2-1, 3.32) NESN
Wed., June 28 NYM 7:05 p.m. RHP Josh Beckett RHP Pedro Martinez (7-3, 3.01) NESN
Thu., June 29 NYM 7:05 p.m. RHP Curt Schilling LHP Tom Glavine (10-2, 3.48/pitches tonight) NESN
---All games broadcast on 103.7 WEEI-FM and the Red Sox radio network and the Red Sox Spanish-language radio network---
DYNAMIC DUO: Since the start of 2004, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez rank 1-2 in the majors in RBI and each rank in the top 4 in home runs:
MLB RBI Leaders, 2004-06
Player Total
David Ortiz 351
Manny Ramirez 319
Albert Pujols 305
Miguel Tejada 302
Mark Teixeira 295
MLB HR Leaders, 2004-06
Player Total
Albert Pujols 112
Adam Dunn 109
David Ortiz 109
Manny Ramirez 106
Paul Konerko 99
Alex Rodriguez 99
ABOUT THE SOX: The Red Sox play the 1st of 3 games with Philadelphia tonight, the middle series of a 9-game homestand versus the National League East…Boston has won a season high 6 straight games since losing in Minnesota on June 15…It is the 2nd longest current winning streak among major league teams (White Sox-7 straight)…Last longer win streak for the Sox was 7 victories in a row, July 27-August 4, 2005…Sox are 9-5 since June 8 and 12-8 beginning May 31 . . . At 42-28, Boston is a season best 14 games over .500 and has its best record after 70 games since 2002 (45-25/lost game 71)…Club was 40-30 and 2nd, 2 GB, after 70 contests a year ago . . . The Sox have held a 2-game advantage in the A.L. East for the past 4 days, their biggest advantage since a 2-game margin on May 28…Club has been in the top spot the last 6 days and has been in sole possession of or in a statistical tie for first place in the division for 69 of 80 days in 2006 . . . At Fenway Park, the Sox have won 3 straight, 9 of 11 and 14 of the last 19 games, the longer streak beginning May 4…Club’s .677 (21-10) home winning percentage is tied for 2nd in A.L. with Minnesota behind Chicago at .730 (27-10).
SERIES SWEEPS: Sox have won all games in consecutive series at Atlanta and versus Washington, the 1st time team has swept back-to-back series of at least 3 games since going 3-0 versus both Minnesota and Kansas City, July 29-August 4, 2005…Was the 1st time that the team has ever swept consecutive series in interleague play.
INTERLEAGUE PLAY: The Red Sox are 8-1 versus the National League this season, winning 6 straight since a loss in Philadelphia on May 21…This ties the team’s longest win streak ever in interleague play, 1st accomplished from June 19, 2005-May 20, 2006…That matches the White Sox, Devil Rays, and Mariners for the best winning percentage (.889) in the majors in interleague play in 2006…Boston has won 12 of its last 13 and 17 of last 19 in interleague play starting June 12, 2005…Sox have .741 (20-7) winning percentage since start of 2005 in interleague action, matching the White Sox for best in majors . . . Sox are 85-81 lifetime vs. N.L. in regular season, 48-36 at Fenway Park…Sox are 10-2 at home against N.L. teams since start of 2005, winning 4 straight and 9 of the last 10…Team has won its last 9 home series in interleague play since dropping 2 of 3 to St. Louis, June 10-12, 2003…Since that time, Boston is 21-6 at Fenway Park vs. the N.L.
BATTING NOTES: The Sox produced 20 runs and 33 hits in the final 2 games of the Washington series…Are team’s most hits in 2-game span since 33, June 12-13, 2005 vs. the Cubs (17) and Reds (16)…Team is 89-for-258 (.345) in last 7 games and has a .300 (332-for-1106) average over the last 31 contests improve season mark from .274 to .286, 3rd best in the league and the highest since May 28 (.284)…Sox are batting .343 (200-583) with 114 runs in last 17 games at Fenway Park and lead the league with a home batting average of .310 (327-1056) . . . Sox are batting .313 (302-966) in interleague games since the start of 2005, the best average among major league clubs in that span.
WITH THE GLOVE: The Red Sox have gone 10 games without an error, tying the club record for consecutive errorless games 1st accomplished from September 26-October 5, 1986…Have 3 miscues in the last 18 games and 12 errors over last 45 contests beginning May 1…Boston leads the majors with a .991 fielding percentage with 23 total errors being 10 fewer than any other major league club (San Diego)…Are the fewest errors for any major league team through June 22 since research is first available beginning in 1960…Sox last led A.L. in team fielding for a season in 1950.
CLIMBING FAST: Jonathan Papelbon has earned saves in his last 3 appearances and leads the A.L. with 23 saves, tying Doug Corbett (Minnesota-1980) and Huston Street (Oakland-2005) for 12th most ever by a rookie…Next on list is Dick Radatz (1962), who holds team rookie mark with 24 saves…ML record is 37 by Seattle’s Kazuhiro Sasaki in 2000…Has converted 23 of 24 save tries (95.8%), the best percentage in the majors among pitchers with at least 15 saves . . . Papelbon has pitched 19 scoreless innings in last 18 games since allowing only run this season on May 3 vs. Toronto…His 0.25 earned run average is the lowest in the majors among all pitchers who have worked at least 8 innings…Dennis Eckersley’s 0.61 era with Oakland in 1990 is the lowest earned run average in a season for a pitcher who has pitched at least 35 innings and at least 50 innings.
2006: Boston won the 1st 2 in a 3-game series at Citizens Bank Park, May 19-21…Loss on May 21 ended a 6-game Sox winning streak in the series, the 1st defeat since a loss at Fenway Park on June 26, 2004...Red Sox and Phillies are meeting for 4th season in a row and the 9th time in 10 years of interleague play since its inception in 1997 (every season except 2002).
AT FENWAY: Sox and Phils meet for 1st time since Boston took 2 of 3, June 25-27, 2004…Sox have won 3 of last 4 here and have won last 2 Fenway series since dropping 2 of 3 in 1999.
ALL-TIME: Boston leads the all-time series, 15-13, 8-6 at Fenway and 7-7 in Philly…The clubs also faced off in the 1915 World Series with Boston winning the final 4 games in a row to capture the series 4-1.
MANNY RAMIREZ ranks 3rd all-time with 114 interleague RBI behind Carlos Delgado (128) and Jim Thome (118)..His 39 homers in interleague games are 4th most, trailing Thome (49), Delgado (41), and Rafael Palmeiro (41).…His 453 career homers are tied with Gary Sheffield for 29th alltime, one behind Thome.
DAVID ORTIZ connected for his 5th career grand slam on Wednesday…All 5 have come at Fenway Park (1 with Minnesota; 4 with Boston), only the 3rd player in history to own at least 5 career slams and have hit them all in the same ballpark: Cecil Cooper, 5 at County Stadium in Milwaukee and Ken Williams, 5 at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis (research by David Vincent)…Ortiz leads the A.L. with 64 RBI, 13 in his last 11 games.
LOWELL AND THE PHILLIES: Mike Lowell had a pair of homers and 4 rbi in 2 games versus the Phillies in May…Has 24 career homers against Philadelphia, 11 more than he has versus any other team (Braves and Mets—13 each).
STELLAR AT SHORT: Alex Gonzalez leads A.L. shortstops with a .995 (1 E/209 TC) fielding percentage and has gone 50 games since his lone miscue on April 9 at Baltimore, both a single season and overall team mark for a shortstop…Previous overall record was 48 games by Rico Petrocelli, September. 25, 1968-May 30, 1969.
