SEATTLE — Kevin Youkilis broke a record that had been held for almost 90 years Monday night, but didn’t know about it until yesterday when informed by a Red Sox public relations official.

One of the few bright spots in Monday’s 9-4 loss to Seattle was Youkilis playing his 120th consecutive game at first base without an error, breaking a record held by Stuffy McInnis in 1921.

“I definitely take a lot of pride in my defense,” said Youkilis. “To me, defense is something I try to get better at each day.”

Drafted as a third baseman — he had played some first in high school — Youkilis had to learn the position on the fly last year and did so through extra work.

“I didn’t think it was much of an adjustment (after playing across the diamond),” he said. “I thought (having played) third base would make me a better first baseman. I feel more comfortable there now.”

Youkilis’ effort and improvement haven’t gone unnoticed by his manager.

“He’s not a safety-first first baseman,” said manager Terry Francona. “He covers some ground around the bag and he’s very active over there.”

Francona hoped that Youkilis would “get a little national (attention)” for the record and and his glove work.

A night off (mostly) for Manny

Francona kept Manny Ramirez out of the starting lineup last night, with Eric Hinske getting the start in left field. Ramirez had started in 73 of the first 76 games the Sox played.

“I don’t want to go too far with him,” said Francona. “I think this works pretty well. We’ve got a day game (today), and then the off-day (tomorrow). Plus, (Hinkse) has taken some pretty good swings on this trip and getting him some at-bats will be good for him.”

Ramirez did enter the game as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning, but J.J. Putz struck him out to end the game.

Ramirez drops in voting

Meanwhile, Ramirez, who has been indifferent in the past about taking part in the All-Star Game, may not have to worry about it this season. Ramirez dropped to fourth in the fan voting yesterday, behind Vladimir Guerrero, Magglio Ordonez and Ichiro Suzuki. Balloting concludes later this week.

Lugo on the bench

Julio Lugo, hitless in his last 29 at-bats and batting a season-low .191, was out of the lineup last night, but Francona stressed it wasn’t the precursor to a long-term benching in favor of Alex Cora.

With rookie lefty Ryan Felerabend pitching this afternoon, in fact, Lugo will be back in the lineup.

Francona wasn’t happy that Lugo didn’t run out a popup to third in the fourth inning Monday night — the shortstop slammed the bat and essentially turned from the batter’s box to return to the dugout — but wouldn’t divulge whether there was any action taken.

Top pick meets the team

The Sox’ first pick in this month’s amateur draft, lefty Nick Hagadone from the University of Washington, was at Safeco Field yesterday afternoon, meeting some players and staff.

Hagadone has agreed to a signing bonus of $571,500, but the deal has yet to become official. When it does, he’ll report to Lowell of the New York-Penn League.

A native of the Seattle area, Hagadone said he was a Mariners fan growing up, but has since changed his allegiance.

“It’s a little different,” he said, smiling, “not rooting for the Mariners.”

Hagadone said meeting some of the current Red Sox players “just makes me look forward to getting here someday. I can’t wait to get to Lowell.”

For his first pro season, he’s been told that his outings will be limited to “two or three innings,” as the Sox don’t want to overdo his workload. In September, he’ll report to the Instructional League program in Fort Myers, Fla.

Around the bases

Kason Gabbard turned in the shortest start of the season -- 3 1/3 innings -- last night and the shortest start for a Red Sox starter since Kyle Snyder last Sept. 24 in Toronto . . . Kevin Youkilis extended his hitting streak to eight games and has hit safely in 39 of his last 43 games . . . Eric Hinske, getting a rare start in left field, has three hits in his last seven at-bats -- and they're all for extra bases. Hinske homered to right Tuesday night in the sixth. The other hits were a homer and a double.Daisuke Matsuzaka goes for his 10th win this afternoon. He leads Major League Baseball rookie pitchers with nine victories. Houston’s Chris Sampson is next with six. … David Ortiz continues to lead all vote-getters at first base, on pace for his third straight All-Star start.

smcadam@projo.com