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Wednesday's press notes

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

DATE OPP. BOS TIME RED SOX STARTER OPPOSING STARTER TELEVISION
Wed., July 5 at TB 7:15 p.m. RHP Jason Johnson (3-9, 6.22) RHP Tim Corcoran (2-0, 1.17) NESN
Thurs., July 6 at TB 7:15 p.m. RHP Tim Wakefield (6-8, 3.90) RHP James Shields (4-1, 4.39) NESN
Fri., July 7 at CWS 8:35 p.m. LHP Jon Lester (3-0, 3.08) LHP Mark Buehrle (9-5, 3.86) NESN
Sat., July 8 at CWS 1:25 p.m. RHP Josh Beckett (10-4, 4.59) RHP Freddy Garcia (10-5, 4.72) FOX
Sun., July 9 at CWS 2:05 p.m. RHP Curt Schilling (10-3, 3.63) RHP Jose Contreras (9-0, 3.31) NESN
*** ALL-STAR BREAK ***
---All games broadcast on 103.7 WEEI-FM and the Red Sox radio network and the Red Sox Spanish-language radio network---

MADE TO FEEL WELCOME: Despite having never played a game in
a Devil Rays uniform, Manny Ramirez’s
22 home runs at Tropicana Field are the
4th-most in the ballpark’s history.

1. Aubrey Huff 67
2. Fred McGriff 52
3. Greg Vaughn 26
4. Manny Ramirez 22
5. Jose Cruz, Jr. 20
Toby Hall 20

HOME RUN LEADERS: Manny Ramirez yesterday tied Jimmie Foxx for 7th on the club’s all-time list, one shy of Bobby Doerr for 6th and 8 shy of Mo Vaughn for 5th…additionally, David Ortiz is entrenched in 16th place, Trot Nixon is tied for 17th with Frank Malzone and Jason Varitek ranks 20th in club history…a look at the top 20 in Red Sox history:

1. Ted Williams 521
2. Carl Yastrzemski 452
3. Jim Rice 382
4. Dwight Evans 379
5. Mo Vaughn 230
6. Bobby Doerr 223
7. Manny Ramirez 222
Jimmie Foxx 222
9. Rico Petrocelli 210
10. Nomar Garciaparra 178
11. Jackie Jensen 170
12. Tony Conigliaro 162
Carlton Fisk 162
14. George Scott 154
15. Reggie Smith 149
16. David Ortiz 146
17. Trot Nixon 131
Frank Malzone 131
19. Mike Greenwell 130
20. Jason Varitek 127

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: The Red Sox have dropped the first 2 games of this 4-game set at Tampa Bay and have reached the midway point of their 10-game, 3-city trip with the Marlins (2-1), Devil Rays (0-2) and White Sox (3 games this weekend)…the Red Sox have also reached the midway point of their season . . . Despite losses in their last 2 games, the Red Sox are 14-3 in their last 17 contests beginning June 16…the Sox began this stretch 1.0-game out in the A.L. East and are now 4.0-games up on the Yankees in the division…the Sox have lost back-to-back games for just the 8th time this season, the first time since their season-high 4-game losing streak June 11-15 . . . This 10-game trip brings the Red Sox to the All-Star Break…when play resumes a week from tomorrow, Boston opens with an 8-game homestand with Oakland (4 games), Kansas City (3) and Texas (one make-up game)…in fact, the Red Sox play 15 of 21 and 26 of their first 38 games after the Break at Fenway.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: The Red Sox have held sole possession of first place in the A.L. East for the last 17 days…the Sox have been in sole possession of or in a statistical tie for first place in the division for 81 of 92 days in 2006 . . . The Red Sox have a 4.0-game lead in the A.L. East for the 4th day in a row, matching their largest margin of the season…the Red Sox were last more than 4.0 games up on August 17 (4.5) and August 13 (5.0) in 2005.

AND THAT'S THE END OF THE FIRST HALF: The Red Sox have reached the midway point of their campaign…here is a comparison of Boston’s numbers in the first half of the 2006 campaign to each half of the 2005 season:

2005 2005 2006
First 81 Games Second 81 Games First 81 Games
RECORD 46-35 (.568) 49-32 (.605) 51-30 (.617)
BATTING AVG. .285 .277 .285
RUNS 449 461 451
RUNS PER GAME 5.5 5.7 5.6
HOME RUNS 95 104 104
SLUGGING PCT. .457 .452 .456
ON-BASE PCT. .359 .354 .367
TEAM ERA 4.85 4.63 4.59
OPP. AVG .274 .277 .263
FIELDING PCT. .983 .981 .990

HELLO MY NAME IS _______: Tonight’s starting pitcher Jason Johnson became the 22nd pitcher to appear for the Sox when he made his debut last Friday at Florida…in 2005, the Sox saw 26 pitchers appear in a game all season…this year, 15 different pitchers have already collected a win for the Sox, matching the club’s total from 2005 . . . The Red Sox last had more than 15 pitchers win a game in a season in 2003, when 16 pitchers were victorious.

PICKING UP THE PACE: At the midway point of the club’s season, David Ortiz leads the A.L. with 76 RBI and is tied for the league lead with 27 homers…he is on a 162-game pace for 152 RBI and 54 home runs, which would shatter his career high of 148 RBI set in 2005 and break Jimmie Foxx’s 68-year-old club record of 50 homers in 1938.

DYNAMIC DUO: David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez yesterday homered in the same game for the 8th time this season and the 38th time since becoming teammates in 2003, tying Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr for 2nd-most in club history…Dwight Evans and Jim Rice own the club mark by homering in the same 56 games.

RED SOX VS. DEVIL RAYS, 2006 SEASON: The Red Sox and Devil Rays meet 19 times in 2006, 9 times at Fenway Park and 10 times at Tropicana Field…the clubs have played 12 times thus far, with the Sox holding a 7-5 edge.

RED SOX VS. DEVIL RAYS, ALL-TIME: Boston leads the all-time series 95-49…the Red Sox are 53-20 at Fenway Park and 43-29 at Tropicana Field . . . The Sox are 6-1-1 in 8 season series since the Rays joined the American League in 1998, losing only in 1999…the clubs split 12 in 2000 . . . Boston has won the last 5 season series (2001-2005), winning at least 12 games vs. Tampa Bay each year fro 2001-2005…the Rays are the only team against whom the Sox have won each of the last 5 season series (2001- 2005)…since 2001, the Sox are 76-31 against the Rays.

DEFENSE RECORD: The Red Sox recently set a new major league record by playing 17 games in a row without an error from June 11-30 . . . Boston surpassed the previous major league record set by the St. Louis Cardinals July 30-August 16, 1992…on Thursday, the Red Sox broke the American League mark of 15 previously held by the Rangers from August 4-19, 1996…Boston’s last error had occurred June 11 vs. Texas (Kevin Youkilis in the first game of a doubleheader)…the Red Sox cleanly handled 668 chances between errors.

PREVIOUSLY ON 24: Jonathan Papelbon Sunday set the Red Sox single-season rookie saves record with his 25th save, breaking Dick Radatz’s mark of 24 saves as a rookie in 1962 . . . Not yet the All-Star Break, Papelbon’s 25 saves already tie for the 10th most by a rookie in major league history, only 12 shy of the record set by Seattle’s Kaz Sasaki in 2000.

Posted by Art  at 2:12 PM | Permalink

Home run notes

2006 home-run notes, courtesy of the Red Sox' P.R. department . . .

HOMERS AT HOME: 38
HOMERS ON THE ROAD: 66

SOLO HOMERS: 56
2-RUN HOMERS: 34
3-RUN HOMERS: 12
GRAND SLAMS: 2

3-HOME RUN GAMES BY RED SOX (0 IN 2006)
Last: Kevin Millar, July 23, 2004 vs. N.Y. Yankees (1st career)

2-HOME RUN GAMES BY RED SOX (6 IN 2006)
David Ortiz, April 17 vs. Seattle off Gil Meche
Manny Ramirez, April 21 at Toronto off A.J. Burnett and Scott Downs
Manny Ramirez, May 24 vs. N.Y. Yankees off Randy Johnson and Scott Proctor
Manny Ramirez, June 23, 2006 vs. Philadelphia off Ryan Madson and Scott Mathieson
David Ortiz, July 1, 2006 at Florida off Anibal Sanchez (22nd career, 20th as a Red Sox)
Manny Ramirez, July 1, 2006 at Florida off Brian Moehler and Anibal Sanchez (47th career, 26th as a Red Sox)

BACK-TO-BACK HOME RUNS BY RED SOX (4 IN 2006)
David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez off A.J. Burnett, April 21 at Toronto
Mike Lowell and Wily Mo Pena off Chad Orvella, April 30 at Tampa Bay
Jason Varitek and Mike Lowell off John Halama, May 15 at Baltimore
Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz, off Zach Miner and Jamie Walker, June 4 at Detroit

GRAND SLAMS BY RED SOX (2 IN 2006)
Jason Varitek, May 7 vs. Baltimore off Kris Benson (2nd career)
David Ortiz, June 21 vs. Washington off Shawn Hill (5th career)

PINCH-HIT HOME RUNS BY RED SOX (0 IN 2006)
Last: Doug Mirabelli, October 2, 2005 vs. N.Y. Yankees off Felix Rodriguez

INSIDE-THE-PARK HOME RUNS BY RED SOX (0 IN 2006)
Last: Trot Nixon, July 15, 2005 vs. N.Y. Yankees off Darrell May (first career)

INSIDE-THE-PARK HOME RUNS AT FENWAY PARK (0 IN 2006)
Last: Trot Nixon, July 15, 2005 vs. N.Y. Yankees off Darrell May (first career)
Last by Opponent: David Newhan (Baltimore), July 21, 2004 off Pedro Martinez

FIRST-INNING LEADOFF HOME RUNS BY RED SOX (4 IN 2006)
Kevin Youkilis, April 19 vs. Tampa Bay off Doug Waechter
Kevin Youkilis, May 5 vs. Baltimore off Rodrigo Lopez
Kevin Youkilis, June 17 at Atlanta off Lance Cormier
Kevin Youkilis, July 2 at Florida off Josh Johnson (4th floor)

WALK-OFF HOME RUNS BY RED SOX (3 IN 2006)
Mark Loretta, April 17 vs. Seattle off Eddie Guardado (first career)
David Ortiz, June 11 vs. Texas (1) off Akinori Otsuka
David Ortiz, June 24 vs. Philadelphia off Tom Gordon (7th career, 6th as a Red Sox)

Posted by Art  at 2:03 PM | Permalink