Prior to last night’s game, Manny Ramirez said the best birthday present he had received was a watch sent to him by his mother. The Baltimore Orioles gift-wrapped another present: a Red Sox win in 13 innings in which Ramirez scored the go-ahead run. On the day he turned 36 years old, Ramirez showed he still has something left in his legs. With one out in the 13th, the birthday boy hustled down the line on a grounder to third base and when Melvin Mora made an errant throw, Ramirez hustled down to second. Three pitches later, he raced around to score on a single down the left field line from Mike Lowell. Not only did the Lowell line drive propel the Red Sox to a much-needed 5-2 victory, but it helped snap a stretch of Sox futility and officially put a whole lot of uneasiness in the rear-view mirror. Gone were the remembrances that the Sox had scored in just two of the previous 31 innings, and that they had been on the precipice of dropping to 1-6 on their current 10-game road swing.Suddenly, thanks in large part to eight scoreless innings from the bullpen, capped by Jonathan Paplebon’s 15th save, all was right with the Red Sox’ world. The combination of Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez, Craig Hansen, Mike Timlin (3-3) and Papelbon offered the perfect pick-me-up for starter Josh Beckett.
Sox Notes: The Red Sox, as expected, are taking no chances with Daisuke Matsuzaka, placing him on the 15-day disabled list with what the team is calling a mild rotator cuff strain after the Japanese righthander underwent an MRI yesterday in Boston. Matsuzaka’s place on the 25-man roster was taken by Jeff Bailey, the hot-hitting Pawtucket infielder-outfielder whose contract was purchased by the Sox. The Sox don’t need another starting pitcher until Tuesday, when they are expected to call up Justin Masterson for a third time.
