Boston Red Sox

Pregame notes

By Gary Dzen

1 minute to read

Manny Ramirez is out of the lineup this afternoon, the Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy told NESN during today’s pregame show. Kevin Youkilis will take Ramirez’s place in left field, while Mark Loretta will be at first base.

The Red Sox will try to avoid being swept out of Seattle today when they take on the Mariners at 4:05 p.m. On the mound for Boston will be Kyle Snyder (3-2, 6.23 ERA), whose last win came on July 21, the last time the Red Sox were in Seattle. Cha Seung Baek (0-0, 5.40) starts for the Mariners.

The Red Sox are now past the midway point of their nine-game road trip. They have gone just 2-3 so far, with AL West leaders Oakland looming. The Sox have now lost 10 of their last 13 games and are just 2-6-1 in their last nine series.

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If there’s any good news for Red Sox fans it’s this: after the Oakland series, the Red Sox play 18 of their final 29 games at home. But that doesn’t necessarily bode well for a team that is under .500 (55-56) against the American League.

Here are a few more pregame notes, courtesy of the Red Sox’ PR staff:

  • The Red Sox are now nine games below .500 in August with only 5 games to play this month, snapping a 13-month streak of finishing a calendar month with a .500 record or better…the Red Sox had last finished below .500 in a calendar month in June of 2004(11-14).
  • David Ortiz leads the A.L. with 46 homers and 120 RBIs. He hit his 46th blast Thursday and now has five homers in his last 11 games. He is one home run shy of posting his second calendar month in a row with 10 or more blasts.
  • With RBI No. 100 on Sunday, Manny Ramirez became the fifth player in major league history to record 30 homers and 100 RBIs in nine straight seasons (1998-2006), joining Jimmie Foxx (12, 1929-40), Lou Gehrig (9, 1929-37), Sammy Sosa (9, 1995-2003) and Rafael Palmeiro (1995-2003).
  • The Red Sox have now gone seven games in a row without 10 or more hits, their longest stretch since a September 2-8, 2005 (a seven game run).

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