Ramírez OK only for BP

Early arrivals to Fenway Park last night saw Manny Ramírez hit a ball over the Sports Authority sign, hit another ball off the sign, and a third ball off the light stanchion, above the Coke bottles, in left field.

But Ramírez, who has not played since Aug. 28 because of a strained left oblique (side) muscle, was not in the starting lineup, manager Terry Francona pooh-poohing the notion that Ramírez's swings in batting practice were an indication he could play.

Ramírez has taken BP three consecutive days, including the offday, Thursday. In those three days, he has taken at least 100 swings combined. But Francona waved off speculation regarding his availability last night.

"He came out yesterday and did a good job swinging the bat," Francona said. "But he's not ready to play. He's doing a good job. Maybe beginning of the week, being somewhat realistic, but I just don't know. He's doing a good job."

Ramírez is batting a team-high .392 against the Yankees this season, and was batting .431 with four home runs and 19 RBIs against last night's starter, Andy Pettitte. It's reasonable to wonder if the lead wasn't 5 1/2 games at the start of the night whether Ramírez would have been playing, but Francona was annoyed about reports suggesting he might play.

"I went to the dentist and had 12 voice messages about Manny," he said.

Francona even suggested to one reporter that he go to the visitors' clubhouse and inform Yankees manager Joe Torre that Ramírez was available for pinch-hitting duty. The Sox are clearly being cautious with him, not wanting him to aggravate the injury with October looming.

Switch hitter Bobby Kielty started in left field and batted eighth, going 1 for 5.

Crisp scratched

Francona was forced to make a late lineup change when center fielder Coco Crisp informed trainer Paul Lessard during batting practice that he was having trouble getting loose.

Crisp was scratched with what was described as a sore left hip, paving the way for Jacoby Ellsbury's baptism into the Yankee-Sox rivalry.

Crisp has been hot of late, batting .423 (11 for 26) with seven RBIs in his last eight games. Ellsbury is also hot, hitting safely in all 13 games since his recall from Pawtucket Sept. 1. He was kept out of play Wednesday because of some soreness in his right (non-throwing) wrist. In his first at-bat last night, he delivered an RBI single off Pettitte to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. He finished the night 2 for 5 and scored. Crisp got into the game in the eighth as a pinch runner, but got thrown out trying to steal to end the inning.

"It's fine, just a little sore," said Crisp. "I think it was from that dive the other day [Wednesday]. Just a little sore. I had the offday to kind of recover. I came in, took some ground balls, and it was a little sore. It didn't really loosen up by the time of the game."

Lowell on the mend

Sox third baseman Mike Lowell said he felt much better than he did Wednesday, when "I couldn't take two sips of water" without feeling ill. "I must have slept 18 or 20 hours." On Tuesday, Lowell had four hits for the sixth time this season, a major league high, after going 3 for 27 in his previous eight games. Coincidentally, the big leaguer with the next-highest number of four-hit games is Hanley Ramírez, who was traded to Florida in the Lowell deal. Ramírez has five four-hit games. Lowell went 2 for 5 last night with an RBI and a run scored . . . Brendan Donnelly was in the clubhouse for the first time since undergoing Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery last month. "Everything went good," he said. "And I feel a lot better being here, rather than having to watch Remy and Orsillo every night." He delivered that last line with a smile . . . Bleacher fans hoping to serenade Johnny Damon were disappointed to hear he was the Yankees' designated hitter last night. He hasn't started in center field since Aug. 17, making 14 starts in left field and six as DH since. Damon, who has had an injury-filled, subpar season, entered the game batting just .259 - his lowest average since he hit .256 for Oakland in 2001 - and .250 in September (9 for 36) with one home run. Last night, he went 4 for 6 to increase his season average to .265, .310 in September. A notable streak by Damon is about to end. He has played in at least 145 games in each of the last 11 seasons, the longest current streak of its kind in the big leagues. Only four players have had longer streaks: Pete Rose, 16; Billy Williams, 13; Cal Ripken, 12; and Lou Brock, 12. Damon has played in 128 games this season, and with the Bombers having only 15 left, he will fall short this season . . . The Oky-Doky is evidently A-OK with the Yankees. They've scored four of the last five times Hideki Okajima has faced them, including the four runs charged to him in the eighth last night, when he went home run (Jason Giambi), home run (Robinson Cano), walk (Melky Cabrera), and double (Damon) without retiring a batter. (He'd gotten the last out of the seventh.) In 4 2/3 innings in those five appearances, Okajima has allowed nine runs, an ERA of 17.34.

Food for thought

Daisuke Matsuzaka's start was a mixed bag. He left with a 5-2 lead, but had thrown 120 pitches by the time he was lifted with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth. "Today is something I can use for next time," said Matsuzaka, whose five walks and a hit batsman had him constantly working out of jams. Asked about the speculation coming into the game that he was fatigued, Matsuzaka said: "I probably wasn't worried as much about what some others were thinking or saying. I think it's a fine line between being hit and not being hit, and I just tried my best to be on the right side of that line today." . . . After playing for 4 hours 43 minutes last night, the Sox are averaging 3:35 a game against the Yankees."It's an absolute joke, the time of games we play with these guys," said Lowell. "I know it's hyped up. I think it's a product of we both have a lot of guys who work the count, then the pitching changes take forever. It's unbelievable. I'd much rather play a 2 1/2-hour game and lose by one run."

Globe correspondent Daniel Malloy and Nick Cafardo of the Globe staff contributed to this report.