Burks to have surgery today

Twelve years after injuries effectively ended a promising career for Ellis Burks with the Red Sox, his second tour in Boston will be interrupted today by arthroscopic surgery to repair torn meniscus, or cartilage, in his left knee. The Sox placed Burks on the 15-day disabled list yesterday and planned to recall Brian Daubach from Triple A Pawtucket today.

Burks, 39, is expected to be sidelined at least four to six weeks. One of the most prolific hitters of his time, Burks agreed to accept a part-time role with the Sox when he signed a one-year deal over the winter for $750,000. But his contributions have been further limited by his inability to play in the field because of discomfort near his right elbow, which was surgically repaired last year, and by the knee injury, which he suffered running the bases in spring training. He has appeared in nine games, including seven starts as the designated hitter, and has batted .133 with one home run and that one RBI.

The Sox hope that while Burks's knee is healing (the injury was officially diagnosed as a medial meniscus tear), he can also strengthen the area near his elbow that has prevented him from throwing. Burks said the discomfort has developed in a muscle that has not kept pace with others in the area that have built up since the elbow surgery.

Burks became the ninth player the Sox have placed on the disabled list this season, the most in the majors.

Daubach will rejoin the Sox 17 days after he was designated for assignment to clear space for Frank Castillo as an extra reliever. Daubach, who could have bolted the organization, instead accepted an assignment to Pawtucket and bashed his way back to Boston. In 10 games for the PawSox, Daubach hit .350 with 5 homers, 11 RBIs, and a .447 on-base percentage. He helped Pawtucket recover from a 3-7 start to enter last night 9-8.

The Sox could use some production off the bench. The four regular bench players -- Burks (.133), Cesar Crespo (.133), David McCarty (.077), and Doug Mirabelli (.556) -- have combined to hit .137.

It's all pitching

One of the marvels of the Sox going 5-1 on their swing through Toronto and New York was that they batted only .147 (10 for 68) with runners in scoring position. Their season average with runners in scoring position dropped to .221; they hit .289 last year in those situations. The only regulars batting better than .200 with runners in scoring position are Johnny Damon (.400, 6 for 15), Manny Ramirez (.391, 9 for 23), and Kevin Millar (.286, 4 for 14).

Manager Terry Francona credited opposing pitchers such as Toronto's Roy Halladay and New York's Kevin Brown in part for the problem, though he expects the Sox to improve. It should help when Nomar Garciaparra and Trot Nixon return.

"Right now, we're doing the best we can," Francona said. "We haven't been very successful, but I do think we'll get better."

The Sox have bolted to a 12-6 start largely because of their pitching. They lead the league with a 3.36 ERA. The Sox pen, with an active scoreless streak of 24 2/3 scoreless innings, also leads the league with a 2.15 ERA. Sox relievers have held batters to a .168 average, while starters have been hit at a .260 clip. All told, Sox pitchers have let opponents hit only .206 with runners in scoring position. The Sox also have allowed the fewest home runs (14).

Web feat

Manny Ramirez has taken his new outreach approach to another level by unveiling his website (www.mannyramirez.com). The site features a biography, a Club MR24 Crib (interactive forum), batting tips for kids, a news page, and information on Ramirez's charitable foundation. He has supported the Charlee Program for abused and neglected children in Dade County, Fla., and he pledges on the site to begin helping organizations in New York and Boston. When he signed with the Sox in 2000 for $160 million over eight years, he pledged to donate $1 million to Boston-area charities that benefit Latino youth . . . The Sox, who were off yesterday, are in the midst of playing 13 of 16 games on the road. Their only homestand during the stretch opens tonight with three games against the Devil Rays.

Tube toppers

The weekend Red Sox-Yankees series was a TV ratings winner in both New York and Boston. The Yankees' YES Network drew a 6.5 rating for Sunday's game, a record for a live event on the network. YES pulled a 5.4 rating for Saturday's game.

NESN basically doubled the New York ratings with an 11.0 Saturday and a 12.8 rating Sunday in the Boston market. Sunday's rating was the third-highest Sox rating in NESN history.

Even though the Boston rating (percentage of all TVs in the market tuned to the game) was much higher, the total number of viewers in New York was greater. Each rating point represents 73,700 homes in the New York market, meaning Sunday's 6.5 rating translated to 479,050 households. In Boston, a rating point equals 23,900 homes, so the 12.8 rating translates to 305,920 households.

When the networks went head-to-head in Hartford Sunday, NESN did a 5.3 rating compared with a 5.1 for YES.

Bill Griffith of the Globe staff contributed to this report.