Some fill-ins filled out lineup

While Yankees manager Joe Torre filled out his lineup card with all the usual suspects yesterday, the only significant difference Johnny Damon tapped to serve as DH instead of center fielder, there were two notable absentees from the Red Sox lineup.

Shortstop Alex Gonzalez, just 1 for 17 on the homestand and 3 for 35 (.086) in his last 10 games, sat for the second straight game, replaced by Alex Cora, a lefthanded hitter asked to face the lefthanded Randy Johnson. And center fielder Coco Crisp, 1 for 9 in Friday's doubleheader, sat in favor of Gabe Kapler, even though Kapler was hitless in five career at-bats against Johnson entering the game.

Sox manager Terry Francona said Gonzalez could not play because of a knot in his back that stiffened up. ``He was having a tough day," Francona said of Gonzalez, who was not in the clubhouse after the game but told teammates he'd hurt his back diving for a ball a couple of nights earlier.

The injury is not believed to be serious. Cora was robbed of a hit by Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, was hit by a pitch while showing bunt, and grounded to short in his three at-bats against Johnson. He also fouled out in the ninth against reliever T.J. Beam.

Francona said he elected to rest Crisp, who has been totally upstaged by his predecessor, Damon, in this series.

``Rather than burn Coco, just fry him, we thought that was a good thing to do," Francona said.

Kapler went 0 for 4, striking out and hitting into a double play. He also blamed himself for not taking a more direct path on Jorge Posada's line drive that wound up being a bases-loaded triple in the Yankees' five-run sixth inning.

After watching Manny Ramírez walked intentionally twice in the first game of the series, Francona installed catcher Javy Lopez in the No. 5 hole yesterday. It was the first time since he has joined the Sox Lopez has hit in the 5-spot.

``We'll try to put somebody in that spot where if they want to walk Manny, he can bump into one and hit a three-run homer," Francona said.

Ramírez walked twice yesterday, once intentionally, sandwiched around his 34th home run, the fifth of his career off Johnson. Ramírez is 6 for 9 with two home runs, a double, and six RBIs in the first three games.

Lopez had a hit in four trips. He lined to center after the intentional walk to Ramírez with first base open in the fifth.

The Red Sox, needing a fresh arm after nine pitchers had combined to throw 431 pitches in Friday's doubleheader, informed veteran reliever Rudy Seanez he had been designated for assignment. Seanez still could wind up back with the Sox if he clears waivers and accepts an outright assignment to Pawtucket, but it appears unlikely he'll go back to the minors at this stage of his career.

``We stayed late last night to go over all the possible scenarios, what we should do, what we wanted to do, needed to do," Francona said. ``If we didn't get a fresh arm, we'd put some people in jeopardy. It wasn't something we enjoyed when we told him.

``Whether people were happy with the way he was pitching or not, he's a pro. Rudy's career has been very streaky. We tried to pitch him enough to where he could get off on a hot streak, but we didn't quite ever get him to the point where he was that dominant guy for a month or six weeks."

Jermaine Van Buren, the pitcher summoned to take his place, was on Pawtucket's bus to Ottawa when Francona called PawSox manager Ron Johnson and asked him to drop off Van Buren. The team was outside North Andover, Francona said, when he made the call, and Van Buren spent the night in a La Quinta Inn before a ride was sent for him.

Mark Loretta said Francona told him yesterday that he wasn't being traded to Detroit. The Sox had offered Loretta to the Tigers earlier in the week, but the teams could not agree on a deal . . . Francona backed off his prediction that knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will be activated in time to start next Sunday in Seattle. He said Wakefield is still feeling some discomfort where he sustained a stress fracture of his ribs. Wakefield is scheduled to throw a side session tomorrow, which should give the team some indication whether he's a go for the Mariners . . . Kason Gabbard, scratched from his start for Pawtucket Friday, now looms as a logical candidate to start Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif., after Kyle Snyder, who had tentatively been penciled in for that start, was used in relief in each of the last two days . . . Josh Beckett's nine walks were a career high. His previous high was six . . . Peter Gammons, recovering from a brain aneurysm, watched the game with his doctor and wife, Gloria, from the owners' box. He told well-wishers he is doing well, and received an ovation when he appeared on the video scoreboard . . . Friday's second game, which lasted a major league-record 4 hours 45 minutes, eclipsed the nine-inning record of 4:27, which occurred in the Dodgers-Giants game in which Barry Bonds broke Mark McGwire's home run record, Oct. 5, 2001. Cora was with the Dodgers for that game. ``There were fireworks, a lot of ceremonies," said Cora, who said Friday's doubleheader was easily his longest day at the ballpark . . . Bob Levin, the usher at the press gate, slept in his Ford Escort rather than go home after the twinbill, which lasted a combined 7 hours and 40 minutes . . .¦When the Sox went 0 for 16 in Game 1 Friday, they became just the second team in the last 25 years to go hitless with at least 16 chances with runners in scoring position.