Red Sox Notebook: The Yankees Are Coming

With a three-game series against the New York Yankees on tap for this weekend and Boston's magic number down to 11 with 15 games remaining, there are sure to be strong emotions, umpires doling out pre-emptive warnings and pre-playoff, postseason-style baseball lying in wait.

Young Yankees right-hander Joba Chamberlain already seems to have a target on his back before firing a single pitch at Fenway Park, and Boston's chance to win its first American League East crown since 1995 is clearly on the line.

"The situation that we're facing right now, (they Yankees) have been playing pretty good," designated hitter David Ortiz said. "Nobody is thinking about the situation or what happened before. Things happen. Right now we're focused on coming in here (Friday) and winning as many as we can from those guys."

The big question, however, is whether Manny Ramirez will be in the available for the series opener.

"We're playing good, but that doesn't mean that we don't need Manny," Ortiz said. "He's a key to our ballclub. We're going to have our arms open for him when he comes back."

Ramirez has missed 15 games since straining a left oblique muscle in the first game of Boston's Bronx broom job at the hands of the Yankees, but he took batting practice for the first time Wednesday. Clearly there's a distinct level of caution with rushing Boston's cleanup hitter back into the lineup as there's lingering tenderness and soreness in the area of injury.

"He's still hurting a little bit," Ortiz said. "I talk to him just about every day. It's one of those things where when he warms up, he feels pretty good, but that injury—the oblique—you've got to be pretty careful with it. You can go from feeling OK to getting worse, and you don't want that."

The Yankees had won seven straight before losing Thursday night, and they have the full and undivided attention of the Red Sox prior to rolling on into Boston.

"The Yanks are something like 40-19 since the break, so I don't expect anything less than a full out heavyweight brawl all the way to the end," right-hander Curt Schilling wrote on his blog Thursday. "This is the time of year when you laugh at the people that downplay April wins and overstate September ones."


NOTES, QUOTES
—1B Kevin Youkilis was the latest player to fill in at the cleanup spot with OF Manny Ramirez still out of the lineup with an oblique strain. Youkilis batted fourth Wednesday night after 3B Mike Lowell had spent the previous 14 games hitting in the four-slot for the Red Sox. Youkilis also replaced Lowell at third base in the game, as Lowell was out of the lineup for the evening with "intestinal turmoil."

—RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka was the recipient of some unconventional gifts—by Western standards anyhow—from the fourth estate on Wednesday when the full contingent of Japanese media sang "Happy Birthday" in English just outside the Fenway home team clubhouse and presented the right-hander with a cake in honor of his 27th birthday. The celebration holds some level of irony, as both Matsuzaka and LHP Hideki Okajima have reduced their availability to the Japanese media as of late.

—DH David Ortiz has hit 12 home runs in his last 94 at-bats and is beginning to resemble the left-handed slugger that clubbed a Sox-record 54 home runs while lugging the Red Sox around on his ample back last season. Ortiz admitted recently that he has again started taking anti-inflammatory medication for his sore right knee, and the ensuing reduction in soreness and pain may be a part of his undeniable power surge.

—2B Dustin Pedroia continues to put together an amazingly consistent rookie season after struggling through a difficult April. The 5-foot-9 second baseman clearly feasts on fastballs early in the count. He is hitting .412 (96-for-233) in at-bats where he swings at one of the first three pitches he sees and .237 (54-for-228) in all other at-bats.

—According to a preliminary copy of the 2008 major league schedule released to the Players Association, the Red Sox and Oakland A's are scheduled to play a pair of games against each other in Japan to kick off next season. The Sox are also scheduled to face NL Central teams in interleague play next season, and reportedly are set to travel to Houston and Cincinnati during road trips.