Thud

The Red Sox opened the second half with that sound, as Clay Buchholz had a similar start last night against the Angels to his previous one against the Orioles last Friday.

He gave up three runs in the first to put the Sox in a hole, but settled down until he gave up a homer to Garret Anderson in the fourth. He put two on in the fifth with two out, but got what at first appeared to be an inning-ending grounder to Alex Cora, but he bobbled it, and a run scored and the inning continued. Two more hits and three more unearned runs later, the game was 8-3 and basically over. The LA Angels went on to an 11-3 win. The loss put the Red Sox back in second again by a half game, as Tampa Bay won at home over Toronto on Friday night.

Kevin Youkilis and Manny Ramirez both hit home runs, but Buchholz' struggles and Cora's error made them basically irrelevant. I'm really beginning to wonder if the Red Sox should go out and get a veteran shortstop for the balance of the season. Cora gives them almost nothing at the plate, and has little range at short and his overall defense has been shaky at best. I like Jed Lowrie, but he may not be ready yet. Both Omar Vizquel and Jack Wilson should be available at the deadline, but both their teams are going to want some decent prospects in return.

In better news back East, David Ortiz had another terrific night in his rehab at Pawtucket, going 1-for-3 with another homer, 3 RBIs and two walks. His home run was an opposite field blast. He plays his final game with the PawSox tonight.

Josh Beckett takes the mound today at Angel Stadium, an afternoon game on Fox today. Tomorrow night's game is on ESPN, but it's on at 6:05 PM, because the throwaway, worthless ESPY Awards are on after it. (I won't be able to see the game because I'll be playing softball tomorrow night.) They can't put that crap on BEFORE the game? Oh yes, it has to be on in "prime time." Idiots.

Manny's Payback?

Today's Extra Bases blog at the Boston Globe web site has an interesting piece of news from Bob Lobel, the sports director from WBZ in Boston, who says that the Red Sox fined Manny Ramirez "a six-figure sum" for the altercation he had last month with traveling secretary Jack McCormick. (Although later reports today say the fine was "between $10,000 and $15,000.")

And apparently, Ramirez was miffed enough about it, according to Lobel, that he gave the Red Sox brass "the middle finger" during a game earlier this month. When Manny went to pinch-hit in the ninth inning of the game against the Yankees and Mariano Rivera on July 6th, he struck out on three pitches and never took the bat off his shoulders. The Sox front office believes that this was his way to "stick it" to them for the fine he got hit with after the pushing incident with McCormick.

The Sox originally refused to discuss what happened immediately after the incident, and that it was handled "internally." I find it hard to believe that the fine remained a secret for this long. Whether Manny did tank it on July 6th is still a matter of conjecture. But it might also explain the bizarre happenings of earlier this week.

Manny says that he wants to meet the Sox front office staff about his contract after the season. According to the Boston Herald, Manny said, "I want to know what's my situation. I want no more [expletive] where they tell you one thing and behind your back they do another thing. I think I've earned that respect, for a team to sit down with me and tell me this is what we want, this is what we want to do."

The Red Sox owner John Henry shot back in an email, and wasn't happy with Ramirez' comments. "I find remarks that we have been anything other than completely straightforward to be personally offensive. Manny has been a crucial part of two world championships. I do not believe we would have won either without him. He has never played a more important role than he has thus far this year."

Manny really isn't in a strong situation here. The Red Sox hold all the cards, and have two $20 million options, for 2009 and 2010. No one is going to pay him $20 million per year if the Sox decline it and he becomes a free agent. If Manny has a lousy second half, the Sox may ultimately decline it, but it would hurt him tremendously in his wallet if his numbers go down. He will be 37 next season. But if he has a monster second half, the Sox would probably keep him for at least 2009. He has said for a good part of this year he wants to stay in Boston, but this little dustup with management is hard to figure out. Could this be the tentacles of Scott Boras, Ramirez' new agent, at work here?

Never a dull moment with Manny around. Stay tuned.

Robbed of a Precious Family Heirloom?

This morning I read one of the most over-the-top "Voice of the People" letters to the New York Daily News I've ever seen. You've got to check this one out:

Mammon vs. Mariano

Manhattan: In the ninth inning, in the last All-Star Game ever at Yankee Stadium, Mariano Rivera was summoned to pitch. "Enter Sandman" starts to play over the speakers. Out of the bullpen comes the greatest closer in baseball history. The Stadium goes bananas. The energy is so tangible, I can feel it at home, over the television. I have a tear in my eye in response to this immense, once-in-a-lifetime moment of respect, awe and beauty in tribute of Mariano. Then - right in the middle of as moving an experience one is likely ever to have as a baseball fan - Fox abruptly GOES TO A COMMERCIAL?

The horror I felt was as though I had just been robbed of a precious family heirloom. Whoever is responsible should lose his/her job.

Does this sound overly dramatic? If you're not a great fan of baseball, perhaps. But I am a great fan of baseball. I was watching a great moment. Then it was stolen from me.

Shame on Fox television. Shame on them.

Name Withheld (for obvious reasons)

As many of you know, I love to occasionally comment on some of the more ridiculous letters I read in newspapers. This one had me literally in hysterics after I read it, and I wondered if this was sent to the News as some kind of a joke. But I bet the author (whose name I left off because it was so ridiculous) is absolutely serious.

So Fox didn't show Mariano Rivera, the alleged greatest closer of all time, coming into the All-Star Game in the ninth inning. Frankly, who cares? In about 99.9% of all pitching changes, the networks don't show the complete change, no matter what the situation, as they go to a commercial. (Money talks, bullshit walks, my friend.) Nobody at Fox is getting fired over this, as they were just doing their job.

To compare hearing Rivera come in to "Enter Sandman" and not seeing it to being robbed of a "precious family heirloom" is just a little over-the-top, don't ya think? Horror over this? A moment stolen away? Overly dramatic? I think you need to get out more often, buddy. I knew Yankee fans can be a bit silly and even moronic, but this letter made me bust out laughing.

Thanks for the chuckle, pal.

Papi's On the Way Back

David Ortiz began his injury rehab at Pawtucket on Thursday night, and it was a certifiable success. Papi went 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk in the PawSox' 15-6 win at home against the Toledo Mud Hens.

Papi homered in his second at-bat on the night before a sellout crowd at McCoy Stadium. He also popped out, lined out and walked in his four at-bats as the designated hitter.

Papi reported no problems with the wrist after the game. He'll have two more appearances with the PawSox before moving over to Portland to play three with the Sea Dogs, and then if everything goes according to plan, he'll return a week from tomorrow against the Yankees at Fenway.

NHK Live at Thom's

Here is a YouTube video of NHK, the national TV network of Japan, when they did a live remote at Professor Thom's pub this past July 3rd, which was the opening game of the Red Sox-Yankees series in the Bronx. It was shown back in Japan for a morning show there, and there were two segments they filmed at the bar.

The reporter, a very nice young lady, started the segments at Finnerty's bar, where many Yankee fans hang out next door. She wore a Yankee jersey, but when she walked into Thom's, she was booed by the bar patrons, and took the MFY jersey off to show a David Ortiz jersey, and was cheered. It was all setup that way beforehand.

My buddy Chris was also interviewed, and at about the 3:00 mark, I was filmed alone at a booth, watching the TV there. (I look kind of "friendless" there!) There are also shots of some fans doing "Kayreoke," which we did the night before the live remote. In the second segment, it concludes with a bunch of us whooping it up in back of the reporter, and you can see me briefly pointing to the guy wearing the Daisuke Matsuzaka shirt.

We all had fun doing it, and the NHK folks were very nice.

The video lasts just over 6 minutes. Yep, we're still big in Japan!

The Pitching Quandry

Today on the radio and in print I've been hearing and reading a lot about last night's All-Star Game, and the fact that both managers used up both of their available pitchers and there would have been a serious problem had the game gone further than 15 innings.

There's an easy way to avoid that in the future. And it isn't what most so-called "experts" are suggesting.

The knee jerk response to what happened with the pitchers last night is "add more pitchers to the roster." Wrong, wrong, wrong. Expanding the rosters isn't the solution.

The solution is to better use the pitchers who go in the beginning of the game. The teams carry 12 pitchers, and that is plenty. I believe that the managers should go with just three pitchers for the first six innings. Let three starters pitch two innings apiece, and turn the final three innings over to the closers, or even more starters. You will have as many as six pitchers left should the game go to extra innings and that is fine. (Clint Hurdle actually went this route on Tuesday night, using three starters over the first six innings. But he was hamstrung near the end, as both Tim Lincecum and Kerry Wood were unavailable at the last minute due to illness and injury.)

Managers should make an effort to get all the position players in the game, but they must have a corral of pitchers left should the game go to overtime. This fetish of letting the starter go two innings and then bringing in a pitcher an inning has to stop (and I was dismayed to see Terry Francona doing that last night). As much blame Bud Selig took for the travesty of the 2002 All-Star Game that ended in a tie after 11 innings, it really should have gone to Joe Torre and Bob Brenly, who felt compelled to get EVERYONE in the game. It was a recipe for trouble, and it simply can't happen again.

Hey, if you have five or six pitchers who don't get into the game, so be it. These guys are major leaguers, not Little Leaguers. What will they do, go home and cry to their mommies? Many of them have incentives in their contracts if they make the All-Star team, which is fine, so even if they don't play, it's been worth it for them. And believe me, most of their managers wouldn't mind seeing them not used anyway.

I looked at the 1987 All-Star Game, and that is the perfect way to use pitchers in the game. It was an extra-inning game that went 13 innings in Oakland, and it was a 2-0 NL win. The NL used just 8 pitchers, and the AL just 7 (both squads did have fewer pitchers than yesterday). The first three pitchers on both teams went 2 innings apiece, except AL starter Bret Saberhagen (pictured), who pitched three innings.

I also took a look at the 1967 All-Star Game, which also went 15 innings. Granted this was in a different era, but the AL used only five pitchers the entire game, and still had three pitchers who were never used. Catfish Hunter, who was the losing pitcher, pitched the last five innings for the AL. I'm not suggesting that baseball go back to using pitchers like that, but it is interesting that there wasn't the paranoia back then about pitchers getting hurt, and there wasn't the World Series advantage on the line back then. Just league pride was at stake.

So adding more pitchers isn't the way to go. If a game with even more pitchers goes just nine innings, you'd have even more pitchers who won't get into the game. You just have to better utilize those pitchers who pitch early in the game, and stop worrying about injuries, and especially about getting every pitcher into the game.

Smarter managing will make for a better contest, and give the so-called experts one less thing to run their mouths off about. And that's always a good thing.

More Evidence Against the Carpetbagger

The New York Daily News revealed today that Kirk Radomski, the drug supplier who was a large part of the Mitchell Report and cooperated with federal investigators in their investigations, has turned over evidence to the feds that he supplied Roger Clemens with HGH in either late 2002 or 2003.

You can read the story here. (BTW, I love the fact the News put this story in their "Yankees" section.)

Clemens' clueless lawyer and mouthpiece Rusty Hardin said this:

"I can't imagine that there's any truth to that at all," said Hardin. "We'll find out one day Roger never received or took the stuff."

Like any lawyer, it's deny, deny, deny. But with all the mounting evidence, it looks like The Texas Con Man will be entering a room with striped sunlight sometime down the road.

Long Night's Journey Into Morning

The longest All-Star Game in history was played last night at that dump in the Bronx that has a date with the wrecker's ball after this season. The American League came out on top, 4-3 in 15 innings on Michael Young's sacrifice fly to score Justin Morneau with the winning run. (Reminded me of the Sid Bream play that won the pennant for the Braves in 1992.) J.D. Drew was voted the game's MVP, as he hit a two-run homer in the 7th inning to tie the game at 2. (Isn't that a great picture of him? I love it when Red Sox players do well at that joint. The last All-Star Game at the alleged "Cathedral of Baseball" and the MVP award was won by someone on the Red Sox. Sweet.)

The game took five hours to play and featured all kinds of action, especially in extra innings, like the NL getting out a bases loaded, no outs jam in the 10th, and the AL getting a runner thrown out at home. Both teams ran out of players (Drew came up to bat 5 times), and Scott Kazmir pitched the 15th inning (after going last Sunday) to get the win.

Once again Terry Francona gets an All-Star Game win, and you know what that means: Game 1 of the 2008 World Series will be played at Fenway Park this year. (I wrote the same thing last July, so don't get nervous. I love being optimistic.) The AL is now undefeated in the last 11 All-Star games. (10-0-1, including that travesty that happened in 2002 with that game that ended in a tie. It would have been interesting to see if the game had gone to say 18 innings, or beyond. You can't halt it, because as we all know, "This time it counts!!")

Some other observations about the Midsummer Classic:

A pox on Wade Boggs for showing up to the opening ceremonies wearing a Yankee hat. (I thought the ceremonies were well-done by the way, with the Hall of Famers at their positions in the field with the game's starters.) He's in the Hall of Fame as a Red Sox player, as he was identified in the graphic. Both Gary Carter and Dave Winfield wore the hats of the teams they are in the Hall with, but also brought a long a second hat of the other major team they are associated with (Carter a Mets hat, Winfield a Yankees hat). Boggs will only be remembered for what he did in Boston, and I'm sure a lot of Red Sox fans like me didn't appreciate it. All anyone will remember about Boggs' days in New York is is that he rode a horse on the field after New York won the 1996 World Series. How appropriate for a total jackass.

Did you see George Steinbrenner in the cart getting the royal treatment at the end of the ceremonies, being driven around the field? He looks like an ad for death, and even worse than I would have thought. He was shown bawling as he made his way around the park. Looks like whoever set it up was ripping off the tribute to Ted Williams from the 1999 All-Star Game.

It was just so great to see the large contingent of Red Sox players who saw action, and Terry Francona managing the team from the Yankees home dugout. And as the game went deeper into extra innings, there wasn't a single Yankee player in the game, and J.D. Drew was still in the game for the AL. Almost surreal.

When is MLB going to stop scheduling this game so late on the East Coast? 8:40 PM is WAY too late to throw the first pitch. The ninth inning didn't happen until after 11:30 ET, and many people in the East can't stay up for it, especially the younger ones. (Same goes for the World Series. Many kids in the East have never seen the finish of a World Series or All-Star Game.) MLB continues to slit their own throats with these start times. I hear the excuses for having it at the time they have it and usually involves the West Coast. Hey, if you're a true fan out West, you get to see all of the game and it will end at a good hour. It all revolves around ratings points out West, and it annoys me. They talk about an "East Coast bias" in baseball, well this is one "West Coast bias" in my opinion.

Jonathan Papelbon (along with all of the Red Sox players) got a rude welcome in Yankee Stadium (big shock, eh?). The asshole New York media played up that statement Pap made on Monday about wanting to close the game, but eventually deferred to Mariano Rivera. (Funny, Rivera said the same exact thing about wanting to pitch the ninth and even stronger than Pap. Of course, Rivera's their boy, and can walk on water in their eyes.) So unlike the NY media to print lies, right?

It was also simply appalling that Pap and his wife actually got threats from some moronic Yankee fans over this crap. (What else do you expect from these muttonheads, America's worst sports fans?) Terry Francona, to his great credit, was going to have Rivera pitch the ninth no matter what, as he knows how to handle situations like this and has a sense of doing the right thing.

Never ceases to amaze what total putzes the New York sportswriters can be, creating ersatz controversies to sell newspapers.

Trivia Q&A: July 15

We had a really huge crowd in on Trivia Night last night, as many also came in to watch the MLB All-Star Game. But a large contingent of Trivia Night regulars were on hand, and we tied the record for the largest number of teams from two weeks ago: 25.

The scores were very good throughout the night, and many teams got perfect scores on the All-Star Games Venues Trivia round. The scores were also strong for the Spell the Word round, as this time it wasn't nearly as difficult as it was two weeks ago. We had two teams tied going into the final round of IQ Trivia. Two teams got perfect scores of 20 in that round, including the winners My Dixie Wrecked, who wound up winning by just three points. My congratulations to them on their win.

Current Events
1. Leaders of the nations meeting in the G8 summit in this country last week agreed to a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050.
2. Tillman Thomas became the new prime minister of what Caribbean island nation last week?
3. China officially took this off its officially designated menus at Olympic restaurants last week, a dish known to be popular in many Asian countries.
4. Time Magazine reported last week that an international survey stated the people from this European country were voted "The Most Obnoxious Tourists."
5. A police officer who recently tore off the head of a wax figure of this man in a museum in Berlin won't have to pay restitution for it because his is destitute.
6. A volcano erupted last Saturday on a remote island in this US state and sent an ash cloud 50,000 feet in the air.
7. Pope Benedict XVI will open the World Youth Day festival in this city later this week.

Answers: 1. Japan; 2. Grenada; 3. dog meat; 4. France; 5. Adolf Hitler; 6. Alaska; 7. Sydney, Australia.

All-Star Game Venues
1. SkyDome (1991)
2. Jacobs Field (1997)
3. Riverfront Stadium (1988)
4. Comiskey Field (1983)
5. Olympic Stadium (1982)
6. Kingdome (1979)
7. Jack Murphy Stadium (1992)

Answers: 1. Toronto; 2. Cleveland; 3. Cincinnati; 4. Chicago; 5. Montreal; 6. Seattle; 7. San Diego.

Spell the Word ("The Q Train")
1. MORIBUND (adj): in a dying state; near death.
2. EPILEPSY (noun): a disorder of the nervous system, characterized by loss of attention or sleepiness.
3. AVARICE (noun): excessive desire or greed.
4. SYRINGE (noun): a small device for pumping liquids through a small aperture.
5. ILLEGIBLE (adj): not legible, hard to read.
6. CYGNET (noun): a young swan.
7. FLUMMERY (noun): complete nonsense.
8. ZEPPELIN (noun): a rigid airship or dirigible.
9. EPITOME (noun): a person who possesses to a high degree the features of a whole class.
10. HOMEOSTASIS (noun): the tendency of a system to maintain internal stability.

General Knowledge
1. What color is the big number 5 on the back of the new US $5 bill?
2. On the TV show "Mork and Mindy," what is the name of Mork's leader?
3. The first laser produced a beam that was what color?
4. What 1970 bestselling book was written by Alvin Toffler about the rapid growth of technology?
5. What country won soccer's World Cup in 2006?
6. What former NFL quarterback went on to co-host the 1980s TV show, "That's Incredible?"
7. What card game uses a deck with only 48 cards?

Answers: 1. purple; 2. Orson; 3. red; 4. "Future Shock;" 5. Italy; 6. Fran Tarkenton; 7. pinochle.

IQ Trivia
1. If you're "intestate," what, by definition, do you not have? (4 points)
2. What American character did James Montgomery Flagg help to immortalize with his 1914 poster? ( 4 points)
3. According to an Aesop fable, what type of bird told the goddess Juno he wanted the voice of a nightingale? ( 5 points)
4. What author wrote the novel "The Regulators" under the pen name Richard Bachman? ( 3 points)
5. In order to bind his empire, what historic military leader married off many of his soldiers to Persian women? ( 4 points)

Answers: 1. A legal will; 2. Uncle Sam; 3. peacock; 4. Stephen King; 5. Alexander the Great.

Helping Out a Founding Father

On Monday night, we had the benefit for former Red Sox pitcher Jerry Casale at Professor Thom's pub. We had a terrific turnout, and there were lots of goodies for the bar patrons to bid on in a silent auction or go after in a raffle.

My buddy Chris Wertz did a tremendous job setting everything up, and I was happy to assist. We had some great items that I mentioned in some previous posts. But we also had some great last-minute items up for bids, like a signed Carlos Delgado bat, my friend Jere's upcoming book "Dirty Water," two more tickets to a Sox game in early August (graciously donated by my friend Joe), dinner for two at Tavern on Jane, my friend Horton's fine establishment in the West Village, and what turned out to be the biggest prize of the night: two upper level tickets to Tuesday night's All-Star Game.

I met Jerry Casale and his family shortly after they arrived at Thom's, and Jerry was a real pleasure to talk to. We talked about both us being from Brooklyn, and he told me some of his Red Sox stories, about playing in Fenway Park and being teammates with Ted Williams. He was a kick to chat with, and told me in vivid detail the three home runs he hit in rookie year of 1959. Jerry still follows the Red Sox closely, and he told me how much he still hates the Yankees. During the night, a recording of Phil Rizzuto announcing a home run Jerry hit at Fenway in 1959 off the Yankees' Bob Turley was played, and Jerry later explained where the pitch was and how far over the Green Monster it went (and Rizzuto on the radio couldn't believe how far it went). Jerry played this tape for his patrons at Pino's, the restaurant he used to run in midtown Manhattan.

Paul (Fitzy) Fitzgerald, the Boston comedian also known as Nick Stevens, was the MC of the auction, and he did a fabulous job, mixing some great humor with his hosting skills. I also had the pleasure of meeting many of Jerry's family who came out for the event. A video was also played of photos of Jerry throughout his life, from his time in baseball before the Red Sox through the time he ran his restaurant, and even some nice pictures of his family as well.

During the evening, Chris announced to the gathered folks that Larry Lucchino of the Red Sox had sent a $500 donation to the event, which was very nice of the Red Sox to do. They donated some great gifts, and it was terrific that they got involved, too. (The All-Star Game tickets, which were $200 apiece, got the largest bid in the silent auction: $675 in total.)

It was nice to see such a fine turnout, and Jerry and his family were thrilled to be a part of it. It was really our pleasure to help out Jerry, whose bar/restaurant was a forerunner of the bars like Professor Thom's in New York City that brings Red Sox fans from all over the New York area and beyond together to watch over favorite team.

Jerry was like one of our Founding Fathers, and we were glad to be graced with his presence, and happy we could help him in his time of need.

All-Star Venues Trivia This Week

This week we will be doing Trivia Night as MLB's All-Star Game will be taking place, so to honor that great traditional game, we will be doing a round of "All-Star Game Venues Trivia." I will give you the name of a stadium that hosted the game and the year it happened, and you will tell me what city that stadium is (or was) in. They will be of the more recent vintage, and "Fenway Park, 1999" will not be one of the ones asked.

"The Q Train" will return with another round of "Spell the Word." I promise you it won't be as hard it was two weeks ago! We will also have the usual three other categories as well, and we'll get going at about 9 PM.

The Sneak Peek question is:
The first laser produced a beam that was what color?

Hope to see many of you for Trivia tomorrow night.

First at the Break

The Red Sox are once again back in first place, and just in the nick of time as the All-Star break commences. The Tampa Bay Rays dropped their seventh straight game and were swept this weekend in Cleveland, 5-2, and the Sox held on yesterday, 2-1. They finish the first half, 57-40, with the third-best record in baseball (behind the Cubs and Angels).

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched six innings yesterday in getting his 10th win. He walked five, and got out of a bases loaded, one out situation in the fifth. He has now gotten into 11 bases loaded situations this season, and has allowed just one run to score (on a walk). He certainly loves to walk the tightrope.

And speaking of walking tightropes, Jonathan Papelbon did just that, giving up a run on three hits in the ninth to the Orioles, but Melvin Mora popped up to second with the tying run on third to give the Red Sox the win, and Pap his 27th save.

The Red Sox left runners everywhere yesterday, including the bases loaded twice, and it looked like it would come back to haunt them, but the two runs they scored was just enough. (Pictured is Manny Ramirez during a 7th inning pitching change in his favorite place, inside the Green Monster, enjoying some Gatorade.)

Seven players, along with Terry Francona and his staff, now move on to New York for tomorrow night's All-Star Game. It will be something else to see the Red Sox dominating the game, especially with Tito managing the game in that joint they are tearing town after this season.

More Cool Items For Monday's Benefit

More really cool items are going to be available at Professor Thom's this Monday night for the benefit for former Red Sox pitcher Jerry Casale.

Up for raffle will be:

A sketch of Ted Williams signed by Ted Williams.

A plaque of Ted also signed by him.

A Red Sox jersey signed by pitcher David Aardsma.

An autographed ball by Fred Lynn, who made an appearance at Professor Thom's on Saturday night. (Like the one pictured here.)

A $200 gift certificate to Capitol Grille.

A collection of three Red Sox books donated by author Bill Nowlin.

Three DVDs donated by Bombo: "Still We Believe," "Blessed! Still We Believe 2," and "New England Hockey: Life at the Rink."

This is in addition to the gifts sent by the Red Sox, as well as some autographed items from former New York Jet Joe Klecko.

It should be a great night tomorrow, with special guests to be on hand. A $20 donation at the door will get you five raffle tickets and a free drink. I hope you can come out and help Jerry out and have some fun. It kicks off at 7 PM, and will last until about 10 PM.

All the News Was Good

After a frustrating loss to the Orioles on Friday night, it was nothing but good news for the Red Sox on Saturday night.

Kevin Youkilis hit a grand slam and drove in six runs in the Red Sox 12-1 win over the Orioles. (Could have used that salami in the ninth inning on Friday night, Youk. But he's been raking the ball lately.)

J.D. Drew missed the last two games, but in his first at-bat back on Staurday, he hit an opposite field home run.

Manny Ramirez belted his 18th home run of the season, his 508th all-time, on the very next pitch after Drew's home run.

Julio Lugo will be out 4-6 weeks with a torn quad muscle after legging out a hit with two outs in the ninth inning on Friday. Jed Lowrie was immediately called up and played in last night's game. Here's the opportunity for Lowrie to shine. (I don't take pleasure in Lugo's injury, but it might be best for the club for him to sit for a while.)

Tim Wakefield was simply outstanding yet again last night, and the Red Sox finally gave him some runs to work with. He went seven innings, allowed just one run on two hits (a homer by Ramon Hernandez) and retired the last 13 batters he saw. I'll never understand those Sox fans who don't appreciate everything Wake does. He's a great innings eater, and he's been on an incredible roll lately. He's 3-3 in his last eight starts, but every one has been a quality one.

And the Red Sox announced that David Ortiz will begin a three-game stint at Pawtucket starting Thursday night, and then will go to Portland for another three-game series. The Red Sox hope Big Papi will be ready for the next Red Sox homestand, which just happens to be July 25 against the Yankees.

I love a night when all the news is good.