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Friday's press notes

Friday's pregame press notes, courtesy of the Red Sox' P.R. department . . .

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
DATE OPP. BOS TIME RED SOX STARTER OPPOSING STARTER TELEVISION
Fri., July 14 OAK 7:05 p.m. RHP Josh Beckett (11-4, 4.75) LHP Barry Zito (8-6, 3.29) NESN
Sat., July 15 OAK 7:05 p.m. RHP Curt Schilling (10-3, 3.60) RHP Dan Haren (6-7, 3.52) NESN
Sun., July 16 OAK 2:05 p.m. RHP Tim Wakefield (7-8, 4.05) RHP Joe Blanton (8-8, 4.95) NESN
Mon., July 17 KC 7:05 p.m. TBA RHP Luke Hudson (2-3, 5.79) NESN
Tue., July 18 KC 7:05 p.m. LHP Jon Lester (4-0, 2.89) RHP Brandon Duckworth (1-2, 5.40) NESN
Wed., July 19 KC 1:05 p.m. RHP John Beckett LHP Mark Redman (6-4, 5.27/tonight) NESN
---All games broadcast on 103.7 WEEI-FM and the Red Sox radio network and the Red Sox Spanish-language radio network---

A ROOKIE RECORD
Jonathan Papelbon is tied for the major league lead with 26 saves, the most by any rookie in big league history prior to the All-Star Break.
All-Time M.L. Save Leaders, Rookies Before The Break
PLAYER CLUB, YR No.
1. J. Papelbon BOS, 2006 26
2. Mike MacDougal KC, 2003 24
3. Kaz Sasaki SEA, 2000 19
4. Jorge Julio BAL, 2002 17
5. Yhency Brazoban LAD, 2005 16

RBI AT THE BREAK
David Ortiz, blanked on Thursday, leads all major leaguers with 87 RBI.
He is the 16th player with at least 87 RBI at the All-Star Break, beginning
in 1933:
RBI Player Year
103 Hank Greenberg 1935
100 Juan Gonzalez 1998
97 Carlos Delgado 2003
96 Manny Ramirez 1999
91 Lou Gehrig 1934
91 Harmon Killebrew 1969
91 Preston Wilson 2003
90 Tommy Davis 1962
90 Tony Perez 1970
90 George Foster 1977
89 Jimmie Foxx* 1938
89 Duke Snider 1955
87 Willie Stargell 1971
87 Mark McGwire 1998
87 Edgar Martinez 2000
87 David Ortiz 2006
*Red Sox Club Record

BACK FROM THE BREAK: The Red Sox dropped the 2nd half opener on Thursday and have lost their last 2 games overall since a 3-game win streak from July 7-9…Boston has dropped 5 of 8 but has a 17-6 record beginning July 16…This marks the 4th consecutive year that the Sox have lost their 1st game after the All-Star Break since the club was a 10-3 winner in Toronto on July 11, 2002 . . . At 53-34, Boston has matched its best record after 87 games in the last 20 years (starting 1987) as the team also began 2002 at 53-34 (loss in game 88)…Team has 3rd best winning percentage in the A.L. at .609 behind Detroit at .674 and Chicago at .648 . . . With Thursday’s defeat, Boston’s lead in the A.L. East fell to 2.5 games, its smallest since June 26…Sox have held sole possession of 1st place in the A.L. East for the last 26 days and has also been in sole possession of or in a statistical tie for 1st in the A.L. East for 91 of 102 days in 2006 . . . Sox are 12-8 in one-run games, losing its last 2 contests by that margin…Is the 1st time the team has lost consecutive games by one run since July 31 and August 1, 2004 at Minnesota…Sox are 7-2 in one-run games at home this season after going15-1 in 2005.

HOME ADVANTAGE: The Red Sox had a 9-game winning streak at Fenway Park snapped on Thursday, losing at home for the 1st time since June 11 to Texas (2nd game of day-night DH)…Was Boston’s longest home winning streak since 14 consecutive Fenway victories, July 19-August 26, 2005…Sox have won 15 of 18 and 20 of the last 26 games played in Boston, the longer streak beginning May 4…Boston’s 27-11 Fenway record is its best home mark after 38 games since 2003 (27-11/lost game 39)...Since the start of 2003, the Sox’ 189-92 (.673) at home, the best winning percentage in the major leagues.

IT’S BEEN OVERTIME: The Red Sox have played 30 innings over 10 hours and 42 minutes in their last 2 games…With Sunday’s 19-inning 6-5 loss in Chicago and last night’s 11-inning defeat, Boston has played consecutive extra inning contests for the 2nd time in 2006, the other June 24 (10 inn) and 26 (12 inn), both home wins versus Philadelphia…Of the team’s last 6 home games, 3 have gone overtime . . . Sox are 2-4 in extra innings this season, 2-1 at Fenway Park…Thursday’s game was team’s 1st home extra inning loss since June 24, 2004 versus Minnesota…Boston had won its last 6 extra inning home games . . . This marks the 1st time that a major league team has played 19-plus innings in one game and 11-plus innings in the next game since 1989, when the Dodgers lost at Houston in 22 innings on June 3 and in 13 innings on June 4 (Research by Elias Sports Bureau)…The last time it happened to the Red Sox was in 1967, when Boston lost in 20 innings on August 29 and won in 11 innings on August 30, both at Yankee Stadium.

BATTING BANTER: The Red Sox are 20-for-106 (.189) in the last 2 games, going 4-for-26 with runners in scoring position in that span…Club ranks 5th in the A.L. with a .282 team batting average…Boston leads the majors with 389 walks and a .367 on-base percentage…At Fenway Park, the Sox are batting .324 (279-862) with 165 runs scored in the last 24 games and rank 2nd in the majors with a .308 (404-1311) average, one point behind the Dodgers…Team has ML high .385 home on-base percentage.

DEFENSE RECORD: The Red Sox set a new major league record by playing 17 games in a row without an error from June 11-30…Boston surpassed the previous major league record set by the St. Louis Cardinals July 30-August 16, 1992 and broke the A.L. mark of 15 previously held by the Rangers from August 4-19, 1996…the Red Sox cleanly handled 668 chances between errors . . . Boston leads the majors with a .990 fielding percentage and with 31 errors, have 9 fewer miscues than any other big league team (Seattle)…Since research is 1st available in 1960, it is the fewest errors by any team through July 13.

LENNY DINARDO begins a rehab assignment tonight with his start at Pawtucket versus Charlotte…Has been sidelined since May 22 with a neck problem.

THE RED SOX AND ATHLETICS
-- 2006 SEASON: The Red Sox dropped their season opener vs. the A’s on Thursday…This is Oakland’s lone trip to Fenway this season…The Sox make 2 trips to the Bay Area this season for a pair of 3-game series: July 24-26 and August 28-30.
-- TRENDS: Boston has dropped 2 in a row to the A’s and are 3-5 in the series beginning May 16, 2005…Sox have won 10 of their last 14 games against Oakland at Fenway . . . The Red Sox have finished with a .500-or-better record at home against the Athletics in 14 of the last 15 seasons, all but 2003 (1-2) . . . The Red Sox are 9-3-1 in the last 13 season series with Oakland, going 86-50 vs. the A’s since the start of the 1993 season (48-23 at Fenway Park and 38-27 in Oakland).
-- ALL-TIME: The Red Sox lead the alltime series 246-193 since the Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland in 1968...the Red Sox are 141-81 at Fenway Park and 105-112 in Oakland.

DAVID ORTIZ leads the majors with 31 home runs, his 4th campaign with at least 30 homers in 4 seasons with the Red Sox…Joins Manny Ramirez (first 5) and Jimmie Foxx (first 5) as the only players in club history with 30 homers in their first 4 seasons as a Red Sox . . . Was the 1st player to lead the A.L. in both homers and RBI at the All-Star Break since Cecil Fielder in 1990, 1st Boston player since Jim Rice in 1978 . . . Has most homers ever by a Red Sox in season’s 1st 87 games…Leads the majors with 8 homers and 17 RBI in 10 games during July…Has 3 more homers and 4 more RBI than any other major leaguer in the month.

SAVE ME! Jonathan Papelbon has already set the Red Sox single-season rookie saves record with 26 saves, breaking Dick Radatz’s mark of 24 saves as a rookie in 1962…His save total tie for the 9th most by a rookie in major league history, 11 shy of record set by Seattle’s Kaz Sasaki in 2000.

AN ALMOST HISTORIC RUN: After stealing 3 bases each on Saturday and Sunday, the Red Sox had a pair of thefts last night…According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Boston last had 3+ SB in back-to-back games in September 1996 and had not had 3 or more steals in 3 straight games since May 1912…Sox had recorded just 8 SB in previous 35 games before this 3-game stretch.

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