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July 21, 2007
With David Ortiz (bruised left shoulder) unavailable, and with Julio Lugo's resurgence at the plate factoring in as well, manager Terry Francona did some juggling of his batting order for today's game.
He brought Lugo back up from the number nine spot to leadoff. The Sox' shortstop had been exiled from the top to the bottom of the order on June 12 because he was batting .213 at the time.
Lugo's struggles continued from the number nine hole for a while, as well, but he enters today's game boasting a 10-game hitting streak during which he has batted .500 (19 for 38), including a grand slam last night.
Manny Ramirez, meanwhile, was moved up from cleanup to the number three spot, the spot in the order he actually prefers.
"He's a little excited about it," said Francona. "It put a little smile on his face. He loves hitting third."
Three years ago Francona kept flip-flopping Ortiz and Ramirez in the three-four spots, finally settling on Ortiz third and Ramirez fourth and sticking with that alignment through this season.
"If they hit like they can we're more productive the way we have it," said Francona of his Ortiz-Ramirez lineup positioning.
Francona is having Ramirez serve in Ortiz's DH slot today, saving a little wear and tear on his knees. Kevin Youkilis is batting cleanup.
-- Steven Krasner
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 1:47 PM | Permalink
