UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
DATE OPP. BOS TIME RED SOX STARTER OPPOSING STARTER TELEVISION
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---
TO THE RESCUE!
Not yet the All-Star Break, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon boasts 25 saves this season, already tied for the 10th-most by a rookie in major league history…Papelbon has already set the Red Sox single-season rookie mark previously held by Dick Radatz (24 saves in 1962)…here’s a look at the top 10 in major league history:
ALL-TIME ROOKIE SAVE LEADERS
PLAYER CLUB, YR No.
Kaz Sasaki SEA, 2000 37
Todd Worrell STL, 1986 36
Billy Koch TOR, 1999 31
Kerry Ligtenberg ATL, 1998 30
Rich Loiselle PIT, 1997 29
Mike MacDougall KC, 2003 27
Gregg Olson BAL, 1989 27
Wayne Granger CIN, 1969 27
Lance Carter TB, 2003 26
Jonathan Papelbon BOS, 2006 25
Jorge Julio BAL, 2002 25
HES A GOLIATH!
David Ortiz has collected a whopping 56 homers and 157 RBI in the last year since the 2005 All-Star Break, far and away the most by any major leaguer in that time frame.
M.L. Home Run Leaders,
Since 2005 All-Star Break
David Ortiz, BOS 56
Jason Giambi, NYY 48
Manny Ramirez, BOS 47
Albert Pujols, STL 47
Ryan Howard, PHI 47
M.L. RBI Leaders
Since 2005 All-Star Break
1. David Ortiz, BOS 157
2. Andruw Jones, ATL 133
3. Manny Ramirez, BOS 129
4. David Wright, NYM 128
5. Lance Berkman, HOU 125
Additionally, Ortiz is the first Red Sox in club history to reach 30 homers by the All-Star Break…he is the 29th player in major league history to reach the mark by the Break, the first since Barry Bonds in 2003 (30).
Red Sox All-Time Leaders,
Homers Before The Break
David Ortiz, 2006 30
Carl Yastrzemski, 1969 29
Manny Ramirez, 2004 26
Manny Ramirez, 2001 26
Jose Canseco, 1996 26
Mo Vaughn, 1996 26
Thanks to David Vincent for his Red Sox home run research assistance.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: David Ortiz became the first player in Red Sox history to reach 30 homers before the All-Star Break and rookie lefthander Jon Lester improved his record to 4-0 as the Red Sox last night defeated the White Sox, 7-2, in the first 2006 meeting of the past 2 World Champions . . . The Red Sox are now 4-4 on their 10-game, 3-city trip with the Marlins (2-1), Devil Rays (1-3) and White Sox (1-0)…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, and play 44 of their final 76 games (58 percent) at Fenway.
ON THE RECORD: Winners in 16 of their last 20 games beginning June 16, the Red Sox with a 52-32 mark are off to their best start through 84 games since posting a 52-32 mark in 2002 (with a loss in game 85)…with a win today, the Red Sox would possess their best record through 85 games since 1986 (55-30) . . . In the last 47 seasons starting in 1960, the Red Sox have had more than 52 wins before the All-Star Break just 5 times: 2003 (55 wins), 1986 (56), 1979 (56), 1978 (57) and 1969 (54).
FIRST THINGS FIRST: The Red Sox have held sole possession of first place in the A.L. East for the last 20 days…the Red Sox have also been in sole possession of or in a statistical tie for first place in the division for 84 of 95 days in 2006 . . . The Red Sox have maintained a lead in the division of 3.0 games or greater for the last 11 days, Boston’s longest such streak since a 12-day stretch from September 1-11, 2005.
PITCHING IN: Today’s starter Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling have each reached 10 wins this season, one of only 3 pairs of teammates to reach 10 victories in the majors this season (joining Detroit’s Kenny Rogers and Justin Verlander and New York’s Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson) . . . Schilling and Beckett are the 3rd pair of Red Sox teammates in the last 60 years each with 10 or more wins by the end of July…they join Roger Clemens and Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd in 1986 and Clemens and Mike Boddicker in 1990 (research: Elias Sports Bureau).
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Jon Lester last night became the first Red Sox rookie starter to win his first 4 decisions since Aaron Sele won his first 6 decisions in 1993…he also became the first Red Sox rookie left-handed starter to win his first 4 decisions since Rick Jones in 1976.
PICKING UP THE PACE: Including 7 homers in his last 24 at-bats, David Ortiz leads all of baseball with 30 homers and 84 RBI…Ortiz is on a 162-game pace for 58 home runs and 162 RBI in 2006, numbers that would shatter his career highs of 47 homers and 148 RBI set in 2005 and break Jimmie Foxx’s 68-year-old Red Sox franchise record of 50 homers in 1938.
DEFENSE RECORD: Boston 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 (16) set by the St. Louis Cardinals July 30-August 16, 1992…on June 29, the Red Sox broke the A.L. mark of 15 previously held by Texas from August 4-19, 1996…the Red Sox cleanly handled 668 chances between errors . . . Boston leads the majors with a .990 fielding percentage in 2006.
THE RED SOX AND WHITE SOX
2006 SEASON: The Red Sox and White Sox meet only 6 times in 2006 – these 3 meetings at U.S. Cellular Field this weekend and 3 games September 4-6 at Fenway…the 4th is Labor Day.
2005 SEASON: The Red Sox won the 7-game series in 2005, 4-3…Boston won 2 of 3 games at Fenway and split a 4-game set here last July . . . The Red Sox and White Sox met in the 2005 American League Division Series, with the White Sox recording a 3-game sweep en route to their first World Championship since 1917.
ALL-TIME: The Red Sox lead the alltime series by a 934-903 count…Boston is 541-378 at home (468-325 at Fenway Park) and 393-525 in Chicago (35-37 at U.S. Cellular Field since the new Comiskey opened in 1991) . . . Since the start of the 2003 season, 12 of the 19 games contested by the Red Sox and White Sox have been decided by 3 runs or less, 13 by 2 runs or less and 9 by one run.
ALL-STAR FODDER
HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR
: Boston on Sunday had 4 players named to the A.L. All-Star team…here are some tidbits about this year’s Red Sox contingent:
-- 2B Mark Loretta was elected by fans to start Tuesday in Pittsburgh…it is his 2nd All-Star appearance, his first as a starter…was a N.L. reserve in 2004 with San Diego…he is the first Boston second baseman to be elected to start since fan voting resumed in 1970, and the first Sox second baseman to start the All-Star game since Felix Mantilla in 1965.
-- 1B David Ortiz was elected by fans to start at first base for the A.L….he was voted to start at D.H. in 2005 and was a reserve in 2004…Ortiz is just the 6th Red Sox to start at first base in the All-Star Game, the first to be voted to do so by fans since the current voting process resumed in 1970.
-- RHP Jonathan Papelbon was voted to the A.L. All-Star team by his peers, leading all relief pitcher vote-getters with 283 tallies…he is just the 2nd Red Sox rookie pitcher to be named to the team, joining Don Schwall in 1961 (2nd game)…overall, he is Boston’s 8th rookie All-Star, the first since Nomar Garciaparra in 1997.
-- OF Manny Ramirez was voted by fans to start in the outfield at the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh next week…is the 10th All-Star nod of his career…he has been elected to start each of the last 7 All-Star Games.
