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Ellsbury sent back down to Pawtucket

After the game the Red Sox sent young phenom Jacoby Ellsbury back to triple-A Pawtucket.

Before the game, Terry Francona said the team would do what is best for the outfielder's development, and that means getting at-bats. With a (very expensive) starting outfield of Manny Ramirez, Coco Crisp and J.D. Drew here and healthy, there would not be enough opportunities for Ellsbury to get into games.

In his six-game Major League debut stint, Ellsbury hit .375 (6-for-16) and a .444 on-base percentage. He also gave the Red Sox fan base a tantalizing look at what they'll see from him when he does become a full-time player -- a few of his hits were on balls that never got out of the infield, and he even impressed his teammates on Monday when he scored from second base on a wild pitch.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 11:12 PM | Permalink

FINAL: Red Sox 15, Devil Rays 4

The Red Sox won their fourth straight and claimed a sweep of the punchless Devil Rays last night, walloping their visitors, 15-4.

Their season-high 21-hit barrage included a grand slam from Coco Crisp (the sixth given up by Tampa Bay this season) and a three-run homer from Mike Lowell.

The 15 runs scored are also a season high, and the most since Sept. 20, 2005 against....the Devil Rays. That was also the last time they had 21 hits.

Josh Beckett got his 12th win of the season; after looking dominant through the first two innings, he turned in an average performance, giving up nine hits and three runs over six innings. Beckett is tied with Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia (12-3) for most wins in the majors. Derek Lowe was the last Boston pitcher with 12 wins before the All-Star break in 2002.

Mike Lowell's five-hit game was a new career high. ... Dustin Pedroia now has a nine-game hit streak. ... David Ortiz's second-inning double, his 28th of the season, was his first extra-base hit in 12 games and his first double in 15 games. ... The Red Sox now lead the A.L. East by a season-best 12 games over New York and Toronto. It is the earliest that that they have ever been up by a dozen games; on July 30, 1946, after 98 games, they were up by 12 1/2 games.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 10:42 PM | Permalink

New season high

Mike Lowell's sixth-inning bases-loaded single was the 19th hit of the game for Boston, setting a new season high.

The previous high was May 19 in the first game of a double-header with Atlanta.

The four-hit game for Lowell matches his career high and is his second 4-hit game this year.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 9:52 PM | Permalink

Okajima gets his moment

The big board here at Fenway just flashed the announcement that Hideki Okajima had won Final Vote, and as he received a standing ovation from the crowd (and with Denise Williams' 80s classic "Let's hear it for the boy" being played), Okajima stood up in the bullpen with a big smile on his face.

He brought his hands together and bowed to every corner of the field, at least a dozen times during the prolonged ovation.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 9:37 PM | Permalink

Work it out, Manny

The man is just a character.

With the bases loaded (again) and Manny on third, Jason Varitek was at the plate. After fouling off five of the first seven pitches he saw, Varitek had a chopper in front of the mound.

Jon Switzer, Tampa Bay's third pitcher and making his first appearance of the season, could not field the ball, which was to his right (glove hand). Switzer did pick up the ball and looked at Manny, who was several steps off the bag.

Switzer held the ball, and Manny did a tap dance/hop type of thing on the base line back to third.

When he got on base in the first, Manny was doing high-knee lifts at first and again at second, frantically running in place for a couple of seconds each time.

And he playfully wrapped his arms around both David Ortiz and Mike Lowell near home plate after Lowell's three-run homer; Ortiz was already giving Lowell his customary hug.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 8:36 PM to Projo Mannybeingmanny | Permalink

Stop the madness!!

We know it's the Devil Rays. We know they've lost 10 straight.

But this is going to get really ridiculous really soon, if it hasn't already.

Starter J.P. Howell was chased after two-thirds of an inning, after surrendering a grand slam to Coco Crisp, not exactly a slugger.

And now the Sox are up 9-0 after a three-run shot by Mike Lowell, whose blast to left landed almost in the same spot in the Monster seats as his two-run homer yesterday. Lowell was met at home plate by David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, who gave him a hug sandwich.

For those of you keeping track at home, it is Lowell -- not Papi, not Manny -- who is leading Boston in home runs, with 14. Ortiz has 13.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 7:56 PM | Permalink

Coco's granny

Coco Crisp's grand slam was the second of his career, coming on an 1-0 pitch, and his fifth home run this season. It was the third granny of the season for the Sox.

Coco certainly has found his groove in recent weeks since making adjustments with hitting coach Dave Magadan. He now has a seven-game hitting streak, and has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games, hitting .444 with 3 doubles, yesterday's leadoff triple, 4 homers and 10 RBI. He has raised his batting average from .223 to .266 in that time.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 7:31 PM | Permalink

Okajima wins Final Vote

Lefthanded rookie Hideki Okajima has won the final spot on the American League All-Star team, winning the A.L. All-Star Final Vote over Detroit's Jeremy Bonderman, Minnesota's Pat Neshek, the Angels' Kelvim Escobar and Toronto's Roy Halladay.

Okajima received 4.4 million votes via online balloting and text messaging and is the first-ever rookie to win Final Vote. But he is the third Red Sox player to capture the vote since Final Vote began in 2002, joining Johnny Damon in 2002 and Jason Varitek in 2003.

Okajima (2-0, 0.88 ERA in 38 appearances) is the ninth Sox rookie to make the All-Star team, joining such luminaries as Walt Dropo, Carlton Fisk, Fred Lynn and Jonathan Papelbon.

Five other Red Sox will play in the Midsummer Classic on Tuesday -- Papelbon, Josh Beckett, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Mike Lowell.

Padres pitcher Chris Young won the N.L. Final Vote.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 7:04 PM | Permalink

Sox sign top pick Hagadone

The Red Sox signed top draft pick Nick Hagadone today, as well as eight amateur international free agents.

Hagadone, a left-handed relief pitcher taken 55th overall out of the University of Washington, was assigned to single-A Lowell. A first-team All-Pac 10 pick this spring, Hagadone, listed at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, went 6-1 with 11 saves and a 2.77 ERA in 25 games (two starts) for the Huskies.

He had 72 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings and opponents batted .235 against him.

Boston had now inked 19 of the players they selected in this year's draft.

The team also signed eight international free agents, with all but one of the contracts starting in 2008. Outfielder Che-Hsuan, an 18-year old from Chinese Taipei, signed a 2007 contract and is assigned to the Rookie League Gulf Coast Red Sox.

The rest of the international signings:

Michael Almanzar, 3b, Dominican Republic
Justin Erasmus, rhp, Australia
Rafael Espinoza, ss, Dominican Republic
Joantoni Garcia, ss, Venezuela
Javier Gutierrez, of, Venezuela
Roman Mendez, rhp, Dominican Republic
Jesus Rojas, c, Venezuela

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 6:50 PM | Permalink

Remembering Teddy Ballgame

We were reminded earlier that today is the fifth anniversary of the death of Red Sox great Ted Williams, who passed away on July 5, 2002 at the age of 83.

A friend of ours who writes for the Boston Metro, Jeff Howe, wrote a lovely piece in today's edition of Game Day remembering Williams. Howe talked to Johnny Pesky about his former teammate as well as Dr. Charles Steinberg, who got to know the Splendid Splinter during his days in San Diego. Williams was born in San Diego in 1918.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 5:46 PM | Permalink

Talking with Tito

Terry Francona just wrapped his pre-game chat, and as to the hot topic of the afternoon - the finals hours of Final Vote and the push to get Hideki Okajima on the AL All-Star team, Francona said he hasn't voted enough, but has his kids logging votes for the lefty reliever.

"The last time I tried to do something like that, I think I voted for someone by accident," Francona said. "So I may not be the one to help him."

Voting online at mlb.com and via text messaging - text "A5" to 36197 - ends at 6 o'clock and the results will be announced later tonight.

Francona said Kevin Youkilis called him earlier today and didn't feel as good as it had been hoped he would after a day of rest yesterday.

"We're trying to keep this from being a 10-12 day thing and keep it a 2-3 day thing," Francona said.

Rookie Jacoby Ellsbury will be back on the bench tonight, and while Francona likes what he sees from the young outfielder so far, he cautioned, "he's not on his way to Cooperstown - yet. His future is very bright, but he's not a finished product yet. He's not supposed to be."

Injured reliever Brendan Donnelly will play long toss tomorrow and is then slated for a bullpen session, while Joel Piniero is a bit further along in his recovery and will make an appearance with Lowell on Wednesday.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 4:18 PM | Permalink

Thursday lineups

Kevin Youkilis is once again out due to his strained left quadriceps, and Manny Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia are back in the lineup:

J.D. Drew rf
Dustin Pedroia 2b
David Ortiz dh
Manny Ramirez lf
Mike Lowell 3b
Jason Varitek c
Coco Crisp cf
Eric Hinske 1b
Julio Lugo ss

Starter: Josh Beckett (11-2, 3.38)

For Tampa Bay:
Akinori Iwamura 3b
Carl Crawford lf
Brendan Harris ss
Carlos Pena 1b
Ty Wigginton 2b
Greg Norton dh
Delmon Young cf
Jonny Gomes rf
Dioner Navarro c

Starter: J.P. Howell (1-2, 5.19)

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 3:38 PM | Permalink

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: All the tools in the box

Sean McAdam joins us once again today for another edition of projo SoxTalk. Click here to listen to the full audio file. The Red Sox are not a perfect team but, as days like yesterday show, they have a lot going for them, and they are not a team that has a whole lot of glaring weaknesses right now. Today, Sean talks about the reserves coming through once again, the possible emergence of Manny Delcarmen as a right-handed setup man, and why the team doesn't have an urgent need to trade for a replacement for the injured Curt Schilling.

Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:

On yesterday's win, despite an unusual starting lineup: "It shows their depth, particularly at a time when the middle of the order -- guys like Ortiz and Ramirez -- don't seem to be contributing much. ... Sitting out a player or two for a couple of games is not catastrophic, because they have people who are comfortable coming off the bench in a reserve role and contributing when they're asked."

On Delcarmen: "They could use someone from the right side [to get to Jonathan Papelbon], and they've been talking about maybe targeting that as their top trade wish as the July 31 deadline gets closer, but it's conceivable that in the next three and a half weeks or so, Delcarmen could emerge as that guy internally, and have the Red Sox focus elsewhere on filling needs when July 31 rolls around. Certainly he's pitched well enough. You can see that Terry Francona has confidence in him to bring him into big spots."

On filling in for Schilling: "I think they believe they're going to be OK. They get through the end of this weekend in Detroit, that's the end of the first half, and then really you're only looking at about three weeks in the second half before Schilling would come back. And I think that when you look at the margin of error that they have in the standings, with their double-digit lead over their closest competitors, the fact that even back-end-of-the-rotation guys like Julian Tavarez and Kason Gabbard, who filled in and took Schilling's spot, have performed far better I think than anyone could have hoped for, and then consider that Jon Lester is only a short trip up 95 away ... there certainly isn't the sense of urgency that you've got to go out and get somebody to come in for a month or so."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:44 AM to McAdam | Permalink

Baseball Today: Thursday, July 5

MAKING HIS PITCH: Sometimes things happen in a game that have meaning far beyond their impact in the game itself, and the Sox may have had one of those moments yesterday. Manny Delcarmen (above, Journal file photo by Bob Breidenbach) had another solid outing in the 7-5 win over the Devil Rays and Sean McAdam notes the Red Sox may have found the power arm for the bullpen they thought they'd have to seek in the trade market. ''Since being recalled from Pawtucket on June 17,'' Sean writes, ''Delcarmen has allowed only two runs in 7 1/3 innings over seven appearances. His velocity has improved to the point where his fastball consistently registers from 95-97 mph, and critically, Delcarmen is consistently locating it in the strike zone.'' Yesterday's performance wasn't as dramatic as his strikeout of Sammy Sosa in a crucial spot last Friday night, but it was crucial for the Sox, who managed to subdue Tampa Bay without their 'A' lineup. A couple of other key moments, as related by Steven Krasner in his Inside The Game feature: A nice catch by J.D. Drew and a perfectly executed safety squeeze by Alex Cora. (All stories projo.com)

ON THE SHELF: The Sox said it wasn't that serious when they first put him on the disabled list, but now they're saying Curt Schilling probably won't pitch again until at least Aug. 1. (projo.com) The Sons of Sam Horn bulletin board has a thread in which Schilling's Wednesday appearance on WEEI is discussed, where he said he hasn't felt right all year, is frustrated and disappointed, and has no timetable for his return. That being the case -- and especially in light of Delcarmen's rise, which lessens the need to acquire relief help -- you wonder if they'll make starting pitching a priority as the trade deadline approaches.

YES, BUT . . . FoxSport's Ken Rosenthal says Todd Helton is no longer an impact hitter -- he notes Helton has a lower slugging percentage than Brandon Phillips -- and says the Red Sox ''were better off sticking with Kevin Youkilis than making a deal for Helton.'' Using the Runs Created formula, Youkilis has, indeed, been a more productive hitter; he's created 64.7 runs to Helton's 61.5. But the Sox would have kept Youkilis had they traded for Helton; they would have moved him to third base and traded Mike Lowell. And Helton has been more productive than Lowell, who has created only 47.2 runs. Which is not to say the Sox should have sent Colorado the boatload of talent it would have taken to acquire Helton -- Manny Delcarmen would have been on that boat -- but just that Youkilis would have stayed had they gotten him.

FURTHER PROOF: If you didn't live through 1967 and are sick of hearing geezers like me rave about it, listen to Joe Posnanski -- who's not as old and who doesn't even come from New England -- as he goes through the incredible stretch run of Carl Yastrzemski in that magical season.

HONOR ROLL: Chad Finn hands out a sterling midseason report card to the Sox on his Touching All The Bases blog.

YOUR EYES AREN'T DECEIVING YOU: Yes, the Red Sox batboy is a little older than you'd expect. (Boston Herald)

PARTNERS: The Red Sox announced yesterday they've signed a working agreement with the Chiba Lotte Marines to aid in scouting information, statistical analysis and player evaluation of players in the Pacific Rim. (projo.com)

I CHOOSE . . . The Red Sox are pulling out the stops to get Hideki Okajima on the All-Star team, but Rob Neyer's vote is going to Pat Neshek. (ESPN.com, Insider only) On his blog, Neshek has a campaign blitz going that would do a professional politician proud (eteamz.active.com/PatNeshek)

OUT OF THE SHADOWS: George Mitchell gives a rare interview to the Boston Globe, in which he says no players will go to jail as part of his investigation of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, and that cheating will always be a part of the game.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY: ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick says Mike Lowell has helped his free-agent chances and Andruw Jones has almost destroyed his in his examination of players in their walk years.

EXAMPLE NUMBER TWO: Remember two months ago when Cleveland sports writer Sheldon Ocker expressed disgust at ''the sense of entitlement that prevails in New York''? (He was talking about widespread speculation in the New York media that the Yanks could swoop in and obtain C.C. Sabathia from the Indians because Sabathia with the Yanks, Ocker sneered sarcastically, ''of course . . . would be of more value to the nation".) Well, Johan Santana beat the Yankees yesterday and the New York Daily News' John Harper immediately wrote ''How does a [Yankee] rotation [in 2009] with Santana, Phil Hughes and Chien-Ming Wang sound?''

GOTTA LOOK TO THE FUTURE, 'CAUSE THE PRESENT'S PRETTY UGLY: FoxSports.com's Mark Kriegel thinks ''the 2007 Yankees could well be remembered as the worst team money could buy.''

'THE TAO OF STEINBRENNER': ESPN.com's Mike Philbrick, on the occasion of George Steinbrenner's 77th birthday, looks at some of the lessons The Boss has taught us over the years. Two of my favorites: His warning that a May series with the Blue Jays in 1988 ''is the whole season right here,'' and his (right on) declaration that ''I will never have a heart attack. I give them.''

DEJA VU: The Mets suffered the same fate in Colorado as the Yankees. (New York Daily News)

SETTING THE BAR: Rosenthal reports that Mark Buehrle's agent says his client won't sign a four-year, $56 million contract extension with the White Sox unless it includes a no-trade clause, which Chicago has thus far refused to do, and won't sign an extension with anyone if he's traded but will instead opt for free agency. This has the double effect of a) almost forcing the White Sox to trade him and b) greatly reducing his value on the open market (since no one will surrender much if they won't get an opportunity to sign him prior to free agency).

BUT AS FOR ME . . . Tadahito Iguchi says he wants to stay with the White Sox. (Chicago Sun-Times)

DIDN'T HAPPEN: The Cubs denied a national report that commissioner Bud Selig nixed the trade of Jacque Jones to Florida. (The Daily Herald)

FINISHED: Jon Lieber's career with the Phillies is over, as the veteran pitcher, in the final season of the three-year contract he signed in 2005, will undergo surgery for a ruptured tendon in his foot and won't return this year. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

NOT QUITE FINISHED: John Smoltz will miss his next start, and the All-Star Game, but doesn't think he'll have to go on the disabled list because of his sore shoulder. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

NOT FINISHED, BUT DELAYED: Alex Rodriguez thinks he may have to go on the DL (New York Daily News) . . . The Royals' Mike Sweeney will undergo knee surgery and be sidelined for two to six weeks (Kansas City Star).

WHISPERS: The Padres don't sound like they're interested in Adam Dunn (San Diego Union-Tribune) . . . Odalis Perez, Octavio Dotel and Emil Brown are among the Royals who may soon be put on the trading block by general manager David Moore (Kansas City Star) . . . In his ESPN.com blog (available to Insiders only), Peter Gammons says (among other things) that ''The Marlins continue to tell inquiring teams that they are not trading Miguel Cabrera or Dontrelle Willis this season. Period.'' . . . A scout thinks the Yankees will be able to dump Kyle Farnsworth if they eat a portion of his contract (New York Post) . . . Bob Brenly would love a shot at the Reds' managerial job, but says he hasn't heard from Cincinnati (Chicago Sun-Times).

OLD FRIENDS: Orlando Cabrera can't understand why he's not on the All-Star team. (Los Angeles Daily News). Me, too, O-Cab . . . Scott Williamson was designated for assignment by the Orioles, but the Baltimore Sun's Roch Kubato will remember him fondly . . . The Cardinals released Tomo Ohka (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), but rotoworld.com thinks he's Philadelphia-bound . . . Newsday speculates that Pedro Martinez could be back in the Mets' rotation by Aug. 12.

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:00 AM | Permalink