Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield gets set to deliver a knuckleball to home plate during the first inning of last night’s game at Yankee Stadium.

AP / Kathy Willens

NEW YORK -- Early Sunday afternoon, Manny Ramirez was lounging at his locker in the visitor's clubhouse at Yankee Stadium.

The Red Sox slugger was listening to his favorite Latin music, getting ready to enjoy his day off. Red Sox manager Terry Francona decided to give Ramirez a rest mainly due to his ailing hamstring and lack of recent production at the plate of late.

It wasn't unusual, especially against the Yankees, that Ramirez would find himself grabbing a bat when needed. That came in the top of the top inning on Sunday night with the game knotted at 4-4.

With two outs and a runner on third, Ramirez stepped to into the batter's box.

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera needed just three pitches to strike out Ramirez. He never took the bat off his shoulders as Rivera threw three straight strikes right over the plate to end the inning.

Three pitches. Zero swings.

"I'm not going to rate his amount of energy in his at-bat," said Francona. Rivera "made three really good pitches. When you see Manny not swing, a lot of times he thinks they are balls he can't get to or he's looking for a (different) pitch. That's not an issue."

Francona could have pinch-hit Ramirez for Julio Lugo in the previous at-bat, but instead the manager inserted Jason Varitek, who grounded out back to the pitcher. Ramirez replaced Kevin Cash in the next at-bat.

Francona reasoned that he wanted to put Ramirez in a spot where New York would be forced to pitch to him.

"They actually did pitch to him," Francona said. "The results weren't what we were looking for."

All-Star bonuses

By virtue of the fans’ votes, player selections and those made by Francona, the Sox will pay out a total of $300,000 in contractual bonuses for their players making the American League All-Star team.

Ramirez will make an additional $75,000; J.D. Drew, $50,000; David Ortiz, $50,000; Jonathan Papelbon, $25,000; Jason Varitek $50,000, and Kevin Youkilis, $50,000.

Dustin Pedroia, who was voted the starter at second base by the fans, did not have an All-Star clause in his contract.

“Do you want to be my agent?” Pedroia jokingly said to a reporter.

Slower on the road

Following a period in which they ran virtually unchecked on the bases this season, the Go-Go Red Sox have slowed down on this road trip.

But in the last two games here, the Sox have been 0-for-3 and have stolen successfully only twice in their last nine tries over the last six games.

Jacoby Ellsbury, who leads the team with 35 steals, has been caught seven times, including three straight and four of his last five tries. To start the year, Ellsbury had stolen successfully in his first 25 attempts.

Francona credited Yankee catcher Jose Molina for the last two games, noting that the Sox had timed the backup receiver at 1.87 seconds in his throws down to second, an extraordinary time.

Ellsbury might be feeling a little tentative after being thrown out a few times (“It’s human nature,” Francona said.).

“But we don’t want him looking over his shoulder,” he said.

Ideas about rotation

Francona said that he, pitching coach John Farrell and general manager Theo Epstein spoke yesterday about mapping out the team’s starting rotation after the All-Star break.

The trio kicked around some general ideas, but aren’t ready to make their plans official.

One thing, however, can be counted upon: Jon Lester will probably pitch in the fourth or fifth game after the break. Among the starters who have been part of the rotation since the start of the season, Lester is the only one who has not yet had an extended break.

Daisuke Matsuzaka spent nearly three weeks on the disabled list with shoulder fatigue, and both Tim Wakefield and Josh Beckett were given several days of extra rest last month.

Lester leads the team in innings pitched with 117 2/3 and is on pace to throw more than 200.

Milestone for Papelbon

In recording his 25th save of the season Friday night, Papelbon became the first pitcher in Red Sox history to record 25 or more saves in three different seasons.

He’s also just the fifth pitcher in major-league history to record at least 25 saves in each of his first three full seasons. The others: Gregg Olson, Billy Koch, Kasuhiro Sasaki and Todd Worrell.