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RAMIREZ READY TO GO

There is no need for Red Sox fans to worry about Manny Ramirez.

The Red Sox slugger, who was removed from Sunday’s game with tightness in his hamstring, is in the lineup tonight in his usual clean-up spot. More than that, he is putting in a long day’s work.

``He’s OK,’’ manager Terry Francona reported. ``He was here this morning. He was here at 10 a.m., riding the bike, getting the blood flooding and getting through it, which is appreciated.’’

Ramirez is not often seen in the Sox clubhouse, but he was today.

He came through, returning from the field, before Francona’s 4 p.m. meeting with reporters. He obviously went back out for more work because when reporters were still in the clubhouse after the session with Francona, Ramirez walked through once again.

Posted by Paul Kenyon  at 4:42 PM | Permalink

Too Early to Make Call on Beckett

The Red Sox say it's premature to make an definitive call on Josh Beckett's status. Beckett was in the clubhouse with a Band-Aid on the middle finger on his right (throwing) hand. He went out for batting practice but was not seen throwing the ball and harder than a light toss back to the pitcher.
The Sox apparently will wait and see how Beckett's responds to a few days of rest before determining whether he can make his next start, on Friday against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park.
``We won't know a heck of a lot more. We'll give him the next couple of days but the next event is his start. We have four days to determine that. We'll give him some time to see how he reacts to it,'' said manager Terry Francona.
The Sox will proceed slowly with Beckett, perhaps the best pitcher in the American League (7-0, 2.66 ERA) over the first six weeks of the season.
``We'll obviously use a lot of common sense but we'll also not rush into anything. We'll see how he does,'' Francona said.
In short, the Sox can't say how long Beckett may be out. Check in tomorrow or Wednesday for a more realistic time frame.
``We'll kind of let the healing process begin and see what pace it's going. The only thing you can really do is wait a couple days and see,'' said Francona.

KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin  at 4:38 PM | Permalink

May 14 lineups; Red Sox-Tigers

Tonight's lineup; Red Sox vs. Tigers, 7:05 1st pitch
BOSTON
Lugo, SS
Youkilis, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Drew, RF
Lowell, 3B
Varitek, C
Crisp, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Matsuzaka, P

TIGERS
Granderson, CF
Monroe, LF
Sheffield, DH
Ordonez, RF
Guillen, SS
Rodriguez, C
Casey, 1B
Perez, 2B
Inge, 3B
Robertson, P

KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin  at 4:32 PM | Permalink

Sox Streakers for May 14

Who's Hot
-Hideki Okajima has pitched 17.2 consecutive scoreless innings
-Alex Cora, 20 for his last 44 (.455) with two doubles, three triples, two home runs, 11 RBI and eight runs scored
-Mike Lowell, 8 for his last 19 (.421) with a double, three home runs, nine RBI, five runs scored and four walks
-David Ortiz, 23 for his last 66 (.348) with 15 RBI, 12 runs and 19 walks
-Jason Varitek, 12 for his last 32 (.372) with two doubles, a home run, seven RBI, nine runs scored and seven walks
-Kevin Youkilis, seven-game hitting streak; 14 for his last 29 (.483) with four doubles, a home run, seven RBI, five runs scored and two walks

Who's Not
-Coco Crisp, 6 for his last 37 (.162)
-Eric Hinske, 2 for his last 28 (.071)

Red Sox vs. Nate Robertson
-Kevin Youkilis, 4 for 10 (400), 2 HR
-Jason Varitek, 2 for 6 (.333), 1 HR
-Julio Lugo, 1 for 3 (.333)
-Coco Crisp, 7 for 25 (.280), 2 HR
-Manny Ramirez, 1 for 9 (.222)
-David Ortiz, 1 for 14 (.071)
-Mike Lowell, 0 for 5

More Stuff
-This is the sixth season in Red Sox history that the team has won at least 25 of its first 36 games. The others: 2002, 1971, 1946, 1917 and 1904.
-Boston's eight-game division lead is its largest since Sept. 26, 1995.
-Yesterday was the second time in Red Sox history that the club has trailed by 5 or more runs in the ninth inning, after being shut out through the first eight, and still come back to win. The other occasion was May 30, 1931, when the Red Sox rallied to beat the Philadelphia Athletics at Fenway Park.
-Yesterday was the first time that any major league club has trailed by 5 or more runs in the ninth inning, after being shut out through the first eight, and still come back to win without first going to extra innings, since April 29, 1979, when the Chicago Cubs came back to beat the Atlanta Braves.
-Yesterday was the first time the Red Sox have come back to win a game after trailing by at least 5 runs in the ninth inning since April 10, 1998, in the home opener against Seattle. The losing pitcher: Mike Timlin.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 4:00 PM to Projo Sox Streakers | Permalink

Projo SoxTalk: Why Beckett's injury may be worse than you think

Today on Projo SoxTalk, sports editor Art Martone and baseball writer Joe McDonald discuss yesterday's amazing game at Fenway Park. Click here to listen to the full audio file. Joe spoke today to a professional athletic trainer who had an alarming assessment about the type of injury that Josh Beckett apparently has. Of course, the Red Sox are not yet saying how long Beckett will be sidelined, or even if he will miss his next scheduled start on Friday against Atlanta. Here's what Joe had to say on Beckett today:

"Beckett was quite disappointed. ... He admitted that he's had this problem before, when he was with Florida. It's not necessarily a blister; the skin on the finger just tears. Both Beckett and Terry Francona said yesterday that in the big picture, that's a good thing, because a blister could be worse. But I actually spoke with a professional athletic trainer today, and asked him if he's ever seen something like that. And he said that he has, and a lot of times football players get it. ... and he admitted that it actually takes longer for something that beckett has now to heal than a blister would. And I asked him if he thought a pitcher would be able to make his next start in five days with something like this, and he said no, there's no way that he's going to be able to start his next game. In football players sometimes it can be up to a month where something has actually healed where that skin was torn off."

We'll have to see.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:33 PM to Martone , McDonald | Permalink

Sox fans still outnumbered in Connecticut

HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) - Despite a weak start, the New York Yankees still rule among fans in Connecticut.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday found that Connecticut fans prefer the Yankees to the Boston Red Sox 43-37 percent. Another 10 percent say they are New York Mets fans.

"The Red Sox may be first in the division but they are second in the hearts of Connecticut fans. These Yankees supporters show they are not fair-weather friends as they stick with the Bombers through tough times," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz. (PROJO.COM EDITOR'S NOTE: Tough times? A slightly below-.500 record through mid-May?)

The Red Sox are 25-11 heading into Monday's games, with an eight-game lead over the 17-19 Yankees.

The university's poll results are similar to last year, when a Quinnipiac poll found that 42 percent of those surveyed were Yankees fans, 35 percent Red Sox fans and 12 percent support the Mets.

In a breakdown by county, the Yankees are still the big favorite in Fairfield County while the Red Sox rule in Hartford, Tolland, Windham and New London counties.
The survey of 1,653 adults was conducted May 2-7. It has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:16 PM | Permalink

Ramirez's tough day in Baltimore

Lost in the euphoria over yesterday's improbable win over Baltimore, and the concern about Josh Beckett's finger injury, was the fact that it was not a very good day for Manny Ramirez.

Ramirez was booed after failing to make a play on Kevin Millar's pop up in the eighth inning; he misplayed a base hit by Jay Payton in the sixth and he did not run hard on a fourth-inning double play. Ramirez came out of the game due to hamstring tightness and was not a part of Boston's winning rally. We'll s

What They're Saying: Jerome Preisler, YesNetwork Web columnist, author and semiprofessional Red Sox hater, tells The New York Times why Manny is bad for baseball. My comment: Blaming Yankee hatred on a "Calivinistic New England outlook" in the year 2007 is pretty disingenuous. I'd say that most people in this most liberal, not to mention most Catholic region of the country don't take many cues from that icon of the Protestant Reformation, John Calvin. But they'll probably still be saying that about New England 200 years from now.

Angels pitcher John Lackey calls Manny the toughest hitter he has ever faced.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:59 PM to Projo Mannybeingmanny | Permalink

Baseball Today: Monday, May 14

What a day, what a day . . .

DEJA VU: It ended with a three-game, first-round playoff sweep at the hands of the Indians and proved not to be a jumping-off point for greater glories; thus, 1995 is rarely mentioned in the pantheon of great Red Sox seasons. But statistically, it was. No Red Sox team in history ever dominated the standings like that one. At one point in late August, the Sox had a 16-game lead over second-place Baltimore, and they clinched the division with more than a week-and-a-half left in the season.

What's the point, you ask?

Because this is starting to look a lot like that.

Yesterday's mind-blowing comeback over the Orioles increased the Sox' record to 25-11, and their A.L. East lead to eight games . . . which, if you click the ''that'' link above, you'll note is the same lead they had after 36 games in '95. (Their 25-11 record is one game better than it was in '95.) It was hardly a concern-free day -- they certainly can't afford to lose Josh Beckett for any length of time, and right now no one seems to know what, exactly, will happen with his finger -- and, truth be told, that ninth-inning comeback was aided and abetted by some pretty poor playing/decision-making on the part of the Orioles. There's a long way to go, in other words, and just because the '95 Sox blew things open doesn't mean their '07 counterparts will do the same.

But right now, as they say in the business, it's all good.

DON'T THINK IT'S GONE UNNOTICED: Johnny Damon was doing some scoreboard-watching in Seattle, and says he ''couldn't really believe'' the Sox' comeback . . . which hurt even more when the Yanks lost to the Mariners. (New York Daily News) And Damon, always the most honest of souls, issued his own warning: "If the Red Sox keep playing the way they are, nobody is going to catch them."

A DIFFERENT TAKE: Derek Jeter says the Yankees' eight-game deficit is better than being nine games out. (New York Post)

A REALLY DIFFERENT TAKE: Yesterday's proceedings have an entirely different look from the other side (Baltimore Sun). "That's a game we should've won, period," said Kevin Millar. "There's no rhyme or reason why we should've lost that game." Sun blogger Roch Kubatko agrees, calling the loss ''inexcusable.'' No argument here.

BEANTOWN BLABBERMOUTH: That's what the New York Daily News' Bill Madden calls Curt Schilling as he runs down the latest series of incidents involving Schilling. Nothing new here, but it's interesting to see the out-of-town take.

NOT THIS TIME, THOUGH: Schilling says nothing controversial -- even about plate umpire Chris Guccione, whose call on that 2-and-2 pitch in the sixth inning changed the afternoon for Schilling and the Sox -- as he breaks down Saturday's no-decision against the Orioles on 38pitches.com.

START COUNTING THE DAYS: All signs point to Roger Clemens making his 2007 debut at Fenway Park on June 2. (New York Daily News)

YOU MAY NOT RECOGNIZE HIM, THOUGH: A scout tells the New York Post's Joel Sherman that the Yankees won't be getting the Roger Clemens of old when he finally arrives in the Bronx.

TIME WOUNDS ALL HEELS: Those of you old enough to remember Clemens' Red Sox battles with the A's Dave Stewart will recall that Stewart had very little use for the Rocket back then. Guess what? He still doesn't. (blog.nbx.com) And, just in case you didn't quite get the message, he'll tell you again.

Clemens vs. Stewart: A beautiful, beautiful thing. Who do you root for in that one?

SWITCHING SIDES: The Mets' resurgence and the Yankees' decline has led to the Mets "taking substantial bites out of the Yankee fan base'' in Westchester County. (New York Times)

TWO SIDES TO THE STORY: The Toronto Star's Richard Griffin says the Blue Jays' season is over, and he blames it on injuries. Baseball Musing's David Pinto, though, thinks J.P. Ricciardi should shoulder some of the blame.

SLOWING DOWN: Pinto posts research that shows offense in 2007 lagging behind 2006. (baseballmusings.com)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:03 AM | Permalink