To add to the positive vibes of Saturday's walk-off win was the good news on J.D. Drew, whose MRI showed no major damage to his right hammy.
Terry Francona said Drew may be able to play Tuesday at the earliest and will not need a trip to the DL.
Before that comes around we have one more with the Dodgers, and it will be on Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Clay Buchholz opposes Hiroki Kuroda.
Final, Red Sox 5-4: This train keeps on rolling. Dustin Pedroia, after looking poor on the previous pitch, lines a Jonathan Broxton offering into right field, scoring Daniel Nava with the winning run.
The Sox have now won five in a row, are 7-1 on their homestand and continue to show what Terry Francona keeps calling "their personality."
That can mean a lot of things, but it's beginning to become more and more clear that this is a group that knows how to pick one another up. Despite injuries (too many to count), errors (four) and whatever else you want to mention, they find a way to win again.
Heading downstairs for reaction. Back in a bit.
7:12 p.m.: With two on and two outs, Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton has been called on to face Dustin Pedroia.
Robert Manuel, just brought up this afternoon when the Sox optioned Felix Doubront to Triple-A Pawtucket, is warming in the Red Sox bullpen.
Mid 9th, 4-4: With a runner at third, Jonathan Papelbon gets the dangerous Matt Kemp to fly to center to end the top of the ninth.
Bill Hall leads off for the Sox in the bottom half. He could use a little redemption. Remember, it was Hall's error in the seventh — his second of the game — that helped the Dodgers score the tying run.
Hall will be facing Ronald Belisario, the fourth Dodgers pitcher.
End 8th, 4-4: You've got to give it up to the Dodgers' bullpen. Jeff Weaver and Hong-Chih Kuo have combined on 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Speaking of relief, Jonathan Papelbon is on for the Sox to start the ninth.
Mid 8th, 4-4: The Sox have to learn this "I got it!" thing a bit better. Dustin Pedroia comes up limping after colliding with Marco Scutaro on a pop to shallow center.
Shouldn't be an issue. Pedroia walked it off just fine and moments later Hideki Okajima finished a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout of Casey Blake.
End 7th, 4-4: Dustin Pedroia greets Hong-Chih Kuo with a single, getting everybody all worked up over here when David Ortiz stepped to the plate with two on and two outs. Alas, Big Papi waves at a Kuo offering for his second strikeout of the game, standing the runners.
Hideki Okajima vs. Manny Ramirez to start the eighth.
6:30 p.m.: A Marco Scutaro single with two outs prompts Joe Torre to pull Jeff Weaver. Hong-Chih Kuo is the third Dodgers pitcher of the game. He gets to face Dustin Pedroia with a man on.
Mid 7th, 4-4: For those of you who like to debate the value of J.D. Drew, Saturday's contest can serve as a great example for those in the pro-Drew camp. Bill Hall, getting a rare start in right, has committed two errors. The most recent one led to an unearned run for the Dodgers in the seventh.
It looks as though Hideki Okajima will face Manny Ramirez to start the eighth.
6:18 p.m.: Manny Delcarmen gets one out on a fly to right, but a runner dashed in from third on the fly to tie it. The next man walked and Terry Francona went with the hook, pulling Delcarmen for Hideki Okajima to face Andre Ethier.
6:12 p.m.: Tim Wakefield surrenders a pair of doubles in the seventh to allow the Dodgers to cut their deficit in half. He is promptly removed in favor of Manny Delcarmen.
Wakefield leaves a runner at third base with one out. Blake DeWitt doubled to drive in Garret Anderson and went to third on Bill Hall's second error in right field.
End 6th, Red Sox 4-2: Kevin Youkilis has driven in at least one run in five straight games after he sends a Vicente Padilla shot easily over the Volvo sign atop the Green Monster.
5:55 p.m.: Kevin Youkilis goes deep and Vicente Padilla goes to the showers. Jeff Weaver is coming on in relief with the Dodgers down 4-2.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 3-2: That was a seven-pitch inning for Tim Wakefield, but one ended up atop the Green Monster. Manny Ramirez's eighth home run of the year pulls the Dodgers within one. It had to happen.
5:46 p.m.: Manny has gone deep, a solo blast in the sixth.
End 5th, Red Sox 3-1: The Sox have gained a game in the American League East standings each of the last three days. That won't happen Saturday as the Yankees have already won. Toronto was also victorious and remains just three games behind Boston as we speak.
In case you hadn't noticed, the top three teams in the majors all reside in the division. My first check showed that that had never happened before this late into the season, but I can't confirm just yet.
For now, just consider it to be pretty cool.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 3-1: Leadoff walks usually lead guys down dark paths, but Tim Wakefield is able to work around one in the fifth by getting three straight outs through the air.
By the way, this is the 200th career start at Fenway Park for Wake, tying him with Roger Clemens, who was here Friday night, for the most ever at the ballpark.
End 4th, Red Sox 3-1: One has to figure that Victor Martinez's crazy splits (.470 against lefties, .219 against righties coming in) have to even out at some point. Well, he drew a walk against right-hander Vicente Padilla in the second and just crushed a 3-0 offering from Padilla into the Dodgers bullpen for a two-run homer.
It is the ninth home run for Martinez, and the fourth in 156 at bats from the left side.
Mid 4th, 1-1: Tim Wakefield has already matched his season high with six strikeouts, halfway to his personal best, set against the Yankees in 2005. He is through four having thrown 62 pitches.
End 3rd, 1-1: Vicente Padilla has retired David Ortiz two times, once on a 57-mph flair that Ortiz popped to left and a second time on a 95-mph fastball that Ortiz could not catch up with.
Manny Ramirez leads off the fourth.
Mid 3rd, 1-1: The Sox have committed three errors — tying a season high — after both Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro throw the ball too high on otherwise routine grounders. Victor Martinez nailed Matt Kemp attempting to steal to erase one miscue and Tim Wakefield fanned Andre Ethier to work around the second.
Beltre has 12 errors to lead the team. Scutaro is up to nine.
End 2nd, 1-1: Daniel Nava has five doubles in his nine hits since being brought up, the latest giving him his seventh RBI in seven games.
Nava took a first-pitch offering from Vicente Padilla and lined it into the gap in left-center field. It was a fastball, which Nava has been hammering since he joined the team.
Mid 2nd, Dodgers 1-0: Tim Wakefield strikes out the side in the second but is done in by the bat, and the legs, of one Manny Ramirez, who stole his fourth base since 2005 to get into scoring position after a leadoff single.
Ramirez scored on a single to right by Garret Anderson that fill-in right fielder Bill Hall misplayed, allowing Anderson to scamper to second. The run is earned.
Wakefield has four strikeouts already. His season high is six.
End 1st, 0-0: It looked as if Vicente Padilla uncorked the old Eephus Pitch to David Ortiz, getting the red-hot slugger to pop to left. MLB has it at 57 mph, and somehow Ortiz was behind it.
Padilla and catcher Russell Martin were sharing a laugh on the way back to the dugout.
Mid 1st, 0-0: The Manny Ramirez watch will wait another inning for Saturday's fans, just as was the case Friday night when the Dodgers opened with a hitless first. Tim Wakefield with no early issues, although Andre Ethier's drive to center takes Darnell McDonald to the track.
3:43 p.m.: There is not nearly the same buzz for this one as there was for the opener Friday night. Everyone has spent their Manny hatred/love already, perhaps. He'll still get quite a reaction when he comes to the plate in either the first or second inning, but the energy level is not what it was less than 24 hours ago.
Still, we have a Red Sox team that has shaved 7 1/2 games off its deficit in the past four weeks or so and enters the day one game behind both Tampa Bay and New York.
If the run continues the buzz here will be something special going forward, for this is a unit that has achieved success in a wildly different manner than many other Sox teams, who often bolt out of the gate. The current edition has picked itself off the mat through a relentless offense, better pitching and a host of contributions from guys many casual fans had never heard of.
It's made for a positive vibe throughout the clubhouse, despite the never-ending run of injuries.
"The first month of the season when things weren't going well, nothing seemed like it was going in the right direction," manager Terry Francona said. "Now the way we're playing it's actually been kinda fun, and I don't mean that in a way where I'm glad that guys are beat up. But we're getting contributions from all over the map and I think that's why you're starting to see more personality, more enthusiasm, more energy during the games."
3:05 p.m.: As Joe Torre promised before the series opened, he will keep Manny Ramirez at designated hitter. Such is the case Saturday. Here is the entire Dodgers' lineup:
Matt Kemp, CF
Russell Martin, C
Andre Ethier, RF
Manny Ramirez, DH
James Loney, 1B
Casey Blake, 3B
Garret Anderson, LF
Jamey Carroll, SS
Blake DeWitt, 2B
2:40 p.m.: We are watching Manny Ramirez take grounders at third, much to the delight of the fans who are filing in. Of the three I just watched, he fielded one cleanly.
1:35 p.m.: We have plenty to pass along in the way of roster moves and injury updates involving the Red Sox. Here is a brief update, with more to come in a bit.
The club optioned Friday night's winner Felix Doubront back to Triple-A Pawtucket the moment Daisuke Matsuzaka finished a 49-pitch simulated game on the mound at Fenway with no issues.
Robert Manuel, a right-handed reliever with a 4-1 record and a 0.98 ERA in 26 games for Pawtucket this year, has been called up. Matsuzaka will start Thursday in Colorado.
Now, there could be more changes after the game. The team is still waiting on the MRI results of J.D. Drew's right hamstring and if he needs to be disabled then an outfielder will be needed right away.
With Drew out, here is the Red Sox lineup for Saturday's contest:
Marco Scutaro, SS
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Victor Martinez, C
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Bill Hall, RF
Daniel Nava, LF
Darnell McDonald, CF
Mike Cameron, who often needs day games off after playing in night games, is your fourth outfielder. It's rather lean out there, folks.
12:20 p.m.: Greetings from a hot and sunny Fenway Park, where we are a few hours from the second game of the Red Sox-Dodgers series. Among the items to look for in the next couple of hours is the status of J.D. Drew, who left Friday's opener in the third inning after straining his right hamstring.
Drew will most certainly be out a couple of days, at least. There is a chance he could be disabled, although that is pure speculation. I am going by what Terry Francona said, which was that Drew heard a pop when he raced in and made a snag of a Manny Ramirez line drive.
It's never good when you hear a pop, unless you're eating Rice Crispies.
Without Drew, the next watch focuses on Mike Cameron to see whether he is OK to go in a day game after a night game, something he has shied away from a bit. We may see Daniel Nava in left, Darnell McDonald in center and Bill Hall in right. Again, just speculating here.
Those lineups should be out in a bit. Stay tuned.
10:20 a.m.: Now that the Manny Ramirez drama has died down a bit, the Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers can concentrate a little more on the matter at hand.
The Sox didn't have any issues doing so Friday night. Behind a solid, if not spectacular, major league debut by lefty Felix Doubront and a seven-run fifth inning, Boston rolled to a 10-6 win in the series opener.
Ramirez, whose reception was mixed, was 1-for-5 with two strikeouts, including one to end the game with two runners on.
The win may have proved costly for the Sox, who saw right fielder J.D. Drew leave in the third inning with a right hamstring injury. He is scheduled to receive an MRI on Saturday morning.
Tim Wakefield will start opposite Vicente Padilla in the second game of the series. First pitch is 4:10 p.m.
