DATE OPP. BOS TIME RED SOX STARTER OPPOSING STARTER TELEVISION
Thu., June 15 @MIN 8:10 p.m. RHP Tim Wakefield (4-7, 3.93) RHP Carlos Silva (2-8, 7.73) NESN
Fri., June 16 @ATL 7:35 p.m. LHP Jon Lester (0-0, 6.23) RHP Tim Hudson (6-4, 3.79) NESN
Sat., June 17 @ATL 1:25 p.m. RHP Josh Beckett (7-3, 5.26) LHP Horacio Ramirez (2-2, 5.06) FOX 25
Sun., June 18 @ATL 8:05 p.m. RHP Curt Schilling (9-2, 3.59) RHP John Smoltz (4-5, 3.78) ESPN
---All games broadcast on 103.7 WEEI-FM and the Red Sox radio network and the Red Sox Spanish-language radio network---
YOUK MOVEMENT: Kevin Youkilis last night batted in the leadoff spot for the first time since May 29, going 2-for-4 with a double. . . he has a .442 on-base percentage (53 hits, 32 walks, 2 HBP in 197 plate appearances) in 41 games as Boston’s leadoff hitter, the 2nd-best mark among major league leadoff hitters (Toronto’s Reed Johnson leads with a .455 OBP). Youkilis ranks among the top 5 in the A.L. this season in on-base percentage and walks:
On-Base Percentage
1. Travis Hafner, CLE .452
2. Jason Giambi, NYY .450
3. Joe Mauer, MIN .442
4. Kevin Youkilis, BOS .435
5. Manny Ramirez, BOS .432
Walks
1. Travis Hafner, CLE 57
2. Manny Ramirez, BOS 51
3. Jason Giambi, NYY 50
4. Jim Thome, CWS 47
5. Kevin Youkilis, BOS 44
Youkilis also ranks 12th in the A.L with a .317 batting average and is tied for 15th with 44 runs scored.
DAVID'S DAMAGE: Last night marked David Ortiz’s 500th game with the Red Sox. . . since joining the Sox in 2003, Ortiz ranks at or near the top of many key offensive categories:
MAJOR LEAGUE LEADERS
2003 -
HOME RUNS
1. Albert Pujols 155
2. Alex Rodriguez 144
3. Manny Ramirez 141
4. David Ortiz 137
5. Adam Dunn 136
RBI
1. David Ortiz 444
2. Albert Pujols 429
3. Manny Ramirez 419
4. Carlos Delgado 408
5. Miguel Tejada 405
SLUGGING PCT.
1. Barry Bonds .733
2. Albert Pujols .654
3. Manny Ramirez .594
4. David Ortiz .592
5. Todd Helton .584
ABOUT THE SOX
-- The Red Sox have lost 3 straight and 4 of the last 5 games, including back-to-back losses in Minnesota to open the 6-game road trip. . . Boston has lost 3 in a row only 2 other times this season: April 20-22 and April 26-28. . . the Sox tonight look to avoid dropping 4 straight games for the first time since a 4-game slide from May 24-27 of last season.
-- At 36-27, the Sox have dropped to 9 games above .500 for the first time since May 25 (27-18). . . Have not been 8 over since May 24 (26-18). . . Is Boston’s best record after 63 games since 2004 (37-26/lost game 64). . . Club was 34-29 and 2nd, 3 GB, after 63 contests a year ago.
-- The Sox fell 1.0 game behind the Yankees on Wednesday, the largest deficit since trailing by 1.5 games on June 6. . . the Sox have not been more than 1.5 games out of first place this season. . . Team has been in sole possession of or in a statistical tie for first place in the division for
63 of 72 days in 2006.
-- Sox have lost 4 of the last 5 away from home and are 4-8 on the road beginning May 21.
BATTING NOTES: Sox are batting .292 (74- for-253) in the last 7 games and have a .287 (243-for-848) average over the last 24 contests to improve season figure from .274 to .279, 5th-best in the A.L. . . .Sox lead the league with 275 walks and rank 3rd with a .363 on-base percentage. . . Sox are batting .264 on the road, 9th in the A.L. and have the 2nd-most away homers at 51, 2 less than Detroit. . . Club’s 183 runs away from home are 2nd-most in the league.
STARTING SLOW: Twins starting pitchers Johan Santana (8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 13 K) and Brad Radke (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER) have limited the Red Sox to 2 runs in 14.0 innings (1.29 ERA) over the last 2 night. . . in the last 6 games, opposing starters have gone 2-0 with 4 no-decisions and a 3.05 ERA (13 ER/38.1 IP). . . the last opposing starter to take the loss was New York’s Jaret Wright one week ago, June 8 at Yankee Stadium.
WITH THE GLOVE: The Red Sox have 3 errors in the last 11 games and lead the majors with a .990 fielding percentage. . . Club has just 12 miscues in 38 games beginning May 1. . . Boston’s 23 total errors are 6 fewer than any other major league club (San Francisco and Oakland).
INTERLEAGUE INTRIGUE: Beginning this weekend in Atlanta, the Red Sox play their next 5 series against National League opponents. . . Boston has won 6 of 7 and 11 of its last 13 interleague games starting June 12, 2005. . . the Sox are 79-81 vs. the N.L. in the regular season since interleague play began in 1997, 35-45 on the road. . . Boston had won a club-record 6 straight road interleague contests before dropping the finale of the 3-game series in Philadelphia on May 21 . . . The Sox have gone 13-23 (.361) in 36 interleague games against the Braves, including an 8-10 (.444) mark at Turner Field. . . the 2 clubs met most recently from May 20-22 of last season at Fenway Park, with the Red Sox winning 2 of 3.
DID YOU KNOW? The Twins have connected for a grand slam in both of the first 2 games of the series (Jason Kubel on Tuesday and Justin Morneau last night). . . it marks the first time the Red Sox have given up a grand slam in consecutive games since 2000 (July 30 at Oakland and July 31 at Seattle). . . the Athletics’ Sal Fasano and the Mariners’ Jay Buhner victimized the Sox in those contests.
RECENTLY: Sox have lost 4 of 5 to the Twins, all in Minnesota, beginning August 5, 2005. . . Boston is 4-4 against Minnesota since start of 2005 but 14-18 in the series beginning 2001. . . In that longer span, club is 5-12 at the Metrodome, going 1-2 in each year from 2001-05.
ALL-TIME: The Twins lead the all-time series 275-265. . . The Sox enjoy a 154-115 advantage at Fenway Park but are 111-160 on the road, including a 53-73 record at the Metrodome since 1982.
IT’S BEEN A RELIEF: Jonathan Papelbon had his string of 20 consecutive save conversions to start the season snapped in his last save opportunity on Friday vs. Texas. . . Was the 2nd blown save of his career, the other on August 27, 2005 vs. Detroit. . . Is leading the A.L. with 20 saves, 4 shy of the team rookie record by Dick Radatz in 1962 . . . Papelbon has worked a Red Sox season-high 16.0 consecutive scoreless innings in 15 games since issuing his only run of the season on May 3 versus Toronto. . . His 0.28 earned run average is the lowest among all major league pitchers who have worked at least 8 innings and is the lowest by a big league hurler (20 or more IP) through June 14 since Anaheim’s Brendan Donnelly had a 0.26 ERA (2 R/1 ER/34.2 IP) in 2003.
GONZALEZ STREAK: Alex Gonzalez leads all A.L. shortstops with a .995 fielding percentage (1 E/203 TC), trailing only San Francisco’s Omar Vizquel (.996) in the majors. . . Has gone 46 games since committing his lone error on April 9 at Baltimore. . . That is tied for the longest single-season errorless streak by a Boston shortstop: 46—Glenn Hoffman, 7/31-9/26/82 The overall Sox mark is 48 games by Petrocelli over 2 years, 9/25/68-5/30/69.
STRIKING OUT: Red Sox pitchers last night did not record a strikeout in a
game for the first time since August 11, 2000 at Texas, a 7-3 Red Sox win. . . Rolando Arrojo, Rheal Cormier, Rod Beck and Derek Lowe went for the
Sox in that game.
