Lack of hits means Ellsbury sits for a day

Jacoby Ellsbury's three hits this past week were a line single to right in the 12th inning in a game in which he had been hitless, a bunt single, and a liner off the pitcher, his sole production in 24 at-bats. His inability to get on base (in 42 games since June 3, he has a .258 on-base percentage, dropping his overall OBP from .385 to .327) not only cost him his leadoff spot yesterday, but also earned him a spot on the Red Sox' bench.

Manager Terry Francona, who had planned to bat the rookie ninth Friday night before Manny Ramírez became a late scratch, said the benching would be temporary. Ellsbury will be back in the lineup tonight against Yankee righthander Sidney Ponson after being held out yesterday against lefthander Andy Pettitte.

The expectation, however, is that Francona will continue to bat Dustin Pedroia in the leadoff spot. Pedroia (0 for 4) reached on an error by Alex Rodriguez in the first inning and scored on David Ortiz's single, and walked in the seventh.

Coco Crisp, Ellsbury's replacement in the lineup yesterday, gave the Sox nothing at the plate - a foul popout, two strikeouts, and a fielder's choice. Crisp is 3 for his last 35 .086), and a player once considered a logical candidate to be traded before the July 31 trading deadline is never mentioned as a desired target of another club.

A day after ducking a Joba Chamberlain fastball, Kevin Youkilis showed restraint when asked about the Yankee pitcher, who has not hit Youkilis with a pitch but last year threw two over his head and earlier this month threw one behind his legs.

When reporters approached his locker, Youkilis looked up and said he wasn't going to talk. "I think my teammates answered for me," said the Sox first baseman, who evidently was aware that reliever Manny Delcarmen said he thought Chamberlain should have been ejected, while Josh Beckett complained the pitch was at Youkilis's head.

Youkilis advised reporters to talk to Chamberlain. "You're asking the wrong guy about the question," he said.

During the Fox pregame show, which gave the Ramírez controversy extended play ("Look who's here," host Jeanne Zelasko declared as the camera panned on Ramírez), former manager Kevin Kennedy likened the situation to one he faced as manager of the Texas Rangers in 1993. Slugger Juan Gonzalez missed eight games near the end of September with a sore back and also missed two scheduled treatments, and even though he was competing for the league home run title, the Rangers were prepared to send him home - not because he was faking the injury, but because he'd missed the treatments. Gonzalez, who led the league with 46 home runs, blamed the missed treatments on a misunderstanding.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman had held off Friday night on confirming that he had made a trade with Pittsburgh for outfielder Xavier Nady and reliever Damaso Marte. No need to be circumspect yesterday; both players were in uniform and Nady, who hit .330 with 13 home runs for the Pirates, was in left field and batting seventh. Nady's arrival gives Johnny Damon more time to recover from his sprained throwing shoulder, while Marte gives the Yankees a match-up lefty to counter lefthanded hitters such as Ortiz.

Marte has a $6 million club option for next season, while Nady will be arbitration-eligible. Cashman said having control over both players for next season was a precondition of the deal. "I wouldn't have done it if it was a rental for a few months," Cashman said.

The Yankees optioned outfielder Brett Gardner to Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and designated reliever LaTroy Hawkins for assignment to make room on the roster.

The names of the prospects sent to the Pirates differed from reports. The Pirates are getting pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, Dan McCutchen, and Jeff Karstens, along with outfielder Jose Tabata. George Kontos and Phil Coke had been mentioned in earlier reports.

Francona was operating on no sleep, so he deserves some slack, but the Sox manager will never be mistaken for an expert on constitutional law. Francona was describing how, after a late night at the ballpark, he had to take his youngest daughter to the airport at the crack of dawn. "She's not the best packer in the world," he said. "She's not the most responsible packer I've seen. I had to check her in, because she's not old enough. I told her, 'Quarter of six, you got a lot of nerve. I've got to get Manny Ramírez in the lineup and you've got a lot of nerve, being 14 years old." Bill Ballou of the Worcester Telegram asked which was a more difficult situation, dealing with Ramírez or a 14-year-old? "I plead the Eighth, Seventh, Ninth, whatever," said the Sox manager, neglecting to mention the Fifth Amendment . . . Clarification: In some editions of yesterday's Globe, Derek Jeter was quoted in regard to Ramírez, when he was speaking about teammate Mariano Rivera. The reporter was in the back of the postgame scrum and did not clearly hear the question posed to Jeter . . . Kevin Cash threw out two of three base stealers yesterday, giving him 12 in 42 attempts (third in the league at 28.6 percent).

Globe correspondent Baxter Holmes and Amalie Benjamin of the Globe staff contributed to this report.