BOSTON -- Jason Varitek vowed to return as soon as possible from today's scheduled knee surgery and said the club would be in good hands with Doug Mirabelli as his replacement.

Varitek, who suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee Monday night, will undergo arthroscopic surgery this morning on an out-patient basis. Varitek said the knee first bothered him following a collision with Angels catcher Mike Napoli Saturday afternoon, then became untenable as he ran to second base Mondy night.

"It was really irritated (after the collision)," Varitek said yesterday, "and then it went the rest of the way after I came around the (second-base) bag."

Doctors won't give Varitek a specific timetable for his return until after the surgery today, but estimated have ranged from four to six weeks of recovery.

"Hopefully," Varitek said, "if things go well, there will be time left (in the season)."

Varitek has been told that he can begin rehab work within days of the surgery as soon as the swelling goes down.

The location of the injury, coupled with the continual squatting catchers must do, mitigated against playing through the injury, something Varitek briefly considered. He was unsure whether his position will slow his return.

Even as the Red Sox explore trade options to beef up the position, Varitek vouched for Mirabelli, his teammate for the last six seasons.

"Doug's proven himself," Varitek said. "He knows what he's doing. I have confidence in him to carry the team and the pitching staff. This team is going to rely on him heavily and there's no question he'll do the job.

"He's very, very good at what he does. He has good instincts and he'll maintain his focus."

This is just the second trip to the DL for Varitek in his career. Since the start of 1999, Varitek has caught 924 games. Only Brad Ausmus (1,027), Jason Kendall (1,027) and Jorge Posada (1,012) have caught more in that span.

Benchmarks for Ramirez

Manny Ramirez' sixth-inning homer was significant on a couple of fronts.

It extended the outfielder's hitting streak to 18 straight games, the longest streak by a Red Sox player this season and the longest active streak in the American League. In that span, he's hitting .391 (25-for-64) with six homers and 20 RBI.

Also, the homer was No. 30 of the season, marking the 11th time overall and ninth straight season that Ramirez has reached that plateau. Only five players -- Hank Aaron (15 seasons), Barry Bonds (14 seasons), Babe Ruth and Mike Schmidt (13 seasons) and Jimmie Foxx (12 seasons) have more 30-homer seasons.

Finally, the homer was Ramirez' 465th career homer, tying him with Hall of Famer Dave Winfield for 26th on baseball's all-time list.

Ramirez' next homer will tie him with Mo Vaughn for 5th in Red Sox history (230). Also, his next RBI will be No. 1,500 of his career.

Johnson gets the nod

Jason Johnson has been tabbed as Sunday's starter in Tampa Bay, the final game of the first road series. The Red Sox had left the identity of Sunday's starter up in the air before choosing Johnson over Kyle Snyder.

"If we can get five or six innings out of Jason (as a starter)," said Francona, "then I think Kyle can (best) impact us in the bullpen."

Snyder threw 4 1/3 innings of one-hit relief Sunday night, impressing the coaching staff and Francona.

"He can come in early and stay out there because he's stretched out," said Francona. "But we can use him anytime we want. What he did the other night (provide solid long relief) is the one thing that we've been missing."

Clement not even close

The Sox may be close to shutting down Matt Clement again. Clement threw on the side Tuesday, but according to Francona, "expressed some frustration," over the session.

Keith Foulke, meanwhile, reported feeling better and may be cleared to throw today.

He had it coming

To the surprise of absolutely no one, David Ortiz was named as American League Player of the Month for July.

He led all major league hitters with 14 homers, 35 RBI, 87 total bases and 21 extra-base hits, while ranking second in slugging (.798).

It's the second time that Ortiz has been given a Player of the Month honor; he also won in September of last season.

Around the horn

When the Sox used Bryan Corey Tuesday night, he became the 25th pitcher to appear in a game this season. The club record is 26, set several times, most recently in 2005. In allowing a homer to the first batter he faced -- Cleveland infielder Joe Inglett -- he became just the second Red Sox pitcher to allow a homer at Fenway to the first batter he faced in his Red Sox debut. Jeff Sellers, who gave up a homer to Keith Lockhard on July 17, 1995, was the last . . . Tim Wakefield turned 40 yesterday, giving the Sox three 40-year-old pitchers on their staff, joining Mike Timlin (40) and David Wells (43) . . . Mike Lowell was in the lineup after suffering a contusion on his lower leg in the eighth inning Tuesday night. . . Coco Crisp became the first Sox centerfielder to record two assists in the same game since Johnny Damon did so April 8, 2004 at Baltimore.. . . Jonathan Papelbon has pitched seven scoreless innings in his last six games and has retired 21 of his last 22 hitters. He hasn't allowed a hit since July 13.

smcadam@projo.com / (401) 277-7340