BOSTON -- Manny Ramirez
's arrival in Boston has been postponed -- yet again -- but there is finally some good news regarding the Red Sox' slugger.
Ramirez, who was due in Boston Thursday, then Friday, won't be arriving until tomorrow. But when he does rejoin the club, indications are it won't be long before he's back in the lineup.
Absent from the lineup since May 11 when he suffered a broken left index finger in a head-first slide at the plate, Ramirez could be in his familiar cleanup spot sometime during the team's upcoming road trip.
That trip begins Friday in Atlanta and continues through June 23 in Los Angeles.
"He's doing good," said manager Grady Little
, who spoke by phone with Ramirez. "He's real close to being able to swing a bat. Everything's going well. We hope we can get him in a game before the next trip is over."
Little said Ramirez won't require a rehab assignment, as had been expected, "as long as his hand feels good."
Little said live batting practice would be sufficient for Ramirez to get his timing back at the plate. It's unclear whether Ramirez will need to wear some protective device on the finger when he does return.
"That finger doesn't have to be locked on the bat," Little said. "We just don't want to risk him breaking it again."
Been a long wait
Carlos Baerga
's homer in the first inning off Curt Schilling
-- a line drive into the Boston bullpen -- was his first homer in the major leagues since Aug. 17, 1999.
It was also his first homer at Fenway Park since May 21, 1995, when he hit two for the Cleveland Indians.
"I was just happy that I did it," said Baerga. "It was a fastball and I hit it pretty good. But we lost the game, so it doesn't count."
Baerga, who has become the team's everyday DH over the last 10 days or so, has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games at a .340 (17-for-50) clip. He has 11 RBI in his last seven games.
Playing shorthanded
Both Rey Sanchez
and Rickey Henderson
remained out of the lineup, and Little said Sanchez wouldn't play today, either. He has missed the last five games after a flareup of his strained hamstring, originally suffered May 26.
The injuries have Little playing with a short bench, limiting him to three extra position players. Yesterday, he used every healthy player available except backup catcher Doug Mirabelli
.
Lou Merloni
, filling in at second for Sanchez, extended his hitting streak to a six games, matching a career high. Over his last 11 games, Merloni is hitting .343 (12-for-35).
Difference of opinion
A critical umpiring call went against the Red Sox in the eighth.
With the bases loaded and pinch-hitter Tony Clark
at the plate against Mike Myers
, Clark hit a grounder to shortstop Tony Womack
which seemed like a tailor-made double play. Womack bobbled the ball and lost it momentarily behind him and Nomar Garciaparra
appeared to slide into second ahead of the flip to second baseman Junior Spivey
.
But umpire Brian O'Nora
called Garciaparra out. Instead of having the bases loaded and one out, the Sox had runners at the corners and two outs.
"(O'Nora) said he thought he got the play right; I thought he got the play wrong,' said Little. "I didn't see it on the replay yet. From our point of view from the dugout it looked like Nomar beat the throw. But he's the one who makes the final decision."
Here and there
The players battled a tricky wind most of the day. Jose Offerman
lost a popup in foul ground in the first when he couldn't hold onto Spivey's pop foul as it drifted back toward the plate. But Pedro Martinez
bailed him out, striking out Spivey so that the error didn't cost the Sox . . . Even in defeat, Martinez reached another career milestone. With 10 strikeouts -- for the fourth time this season, 55th time as a member of the Red Sox and 82nd time in his career -- he now has 1,101 strikeouts with the Sox . . . By recording his first career win at Fenway Park, Schilling has now recorded victories in 25 different ballparks. Earlier this year, he also recorded his first career victories at Milwaukee's Miller Park and Pittsburgh's PNC Park.
Playing the percentages
Ramirez's absence had an impact yesterday.
Schilling said after the game the walk he issued to Garciaparra in the eighth inning was all but intentional.
Schilling had just snapped a streak of 44 innings, and 165 batters, without allowing a walk when he threw four straight balls to Johnny Damon
earlier in the inning. It was only the second four-pitch walk of the season by Schilling.
Baerga sacrified, moving Merloni, who had opened the inning with an infield single, and Damon, to third and second respectively. There was only one out. If Ramirez was healthy it would be extremely unlikely that Schilling would want to walk Garciaparra to load the bases with one out.
"I felt like I had a game plan I could follow against (Brian) Daubach
(who was hitting clean-up) and Shea (Hillenbrand)
coming up behind him," Schilling said. "So I kind of pitched around (Garciaparra). I tried to get him to chase a couple balls. I felt I had the right game plan to go after the next couple guys. I was surprised when I didn't get a chance to do it."
Myers came on in relief and got Clark to hit into a force play at second. Byung-Hyun Kim
then retired Hillenbrand on a short fly to center to preserve the lead.
Paul Kenyon contributed to this report.
