Ortiz tries to make best of it

Something seemed missing. Perhaps it was the pep in his step.

That much was evident when David Ortiz emerged from the Red Sox dugout to take batting practice before last night's game against the Oakland A's. It was the first for the Sox without Manny Ramírez, who was dealt Thursday to the Los Angeles Dodgers in an 11th-hour, three-way trade that brought Jason Bay from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Little wonder, then, why Big Papi seemed a bit forlorn as he went about his business.

"We'll be all right," Ortiz said. "I guess everyone knew it was going to happen and it happened, so we'll see how it goes."

Asked if it was a bittersweet experience to come to the park knowing his power-hitting sidekick would no longer be cutting up alongside him in the dugout and no longer batting behind him in the cleanup spot, Ortiz said, "Manny and I are pretty good friends, and, of course, I'm going to miss him. But this is a business, and they did what they had to do, so you've got to go from there.

"It's time to play."

Asked if he felt the trade had improved the team, Ortiz replied, "I don't know. We'll see."

Certainly, the absence of Ramírez's bat was going to have the greatest impact on Ortiz and the quality of pitches he will see for the foreseeable future. There was no certainty about what impact Terry Francona's decision to move Mike Lowell up to the cleanup spot would have on Ortiz.

"I don't know yet," Ortiz said. "I'll let you guys know down the road."

Asked if he was concerned about drawing more walks now, Ortiz replied, "Hopefully not. I don't like walking."

Asked if he's heard how happy the Yankees were that Ramírez was no longer in the American League East, Ortiz smiled wearily in acknowledgement of the fear and loathing Ramírez's presence had caused the Bronx Bombers in his 7 1/2 seasons with Boston. "Well, we would be, too," he said. "I guess."

While general manager Theo Epstein said the trade seemed to improve the atmosphere in the clubhouse, it didn't seem to have the desired effect on Ortiz, who clearly was feeling Ramírez's absence. Ortiz, sitting in front of his locker, took a long draw from his energy drink.

"I need to calm myself down now," he said. With that, he waved off any more queries.

Lowell hurt

Lowell pulled up with a right hip strain while legging out a single in the 10th and was replaced by pinch runner Coco Crisp. "It's his right hip flexor," Francona said. "It's been sour for a pretty good amount of time. We were going to run for him if he got to second just because we knew what we were facing. If we don't score, we've got David and we've got a bunch of lefties, but when he fell like that, it didn't seem like it was very sensible to leave him in." . . . Although he didn't get credited with the 2-1, 12-inning win, Tim Wakefield certainly was deserving. He recorded his third scoreless start of the season, going 6 1/3 innings (4 hits, 4 strikeouts, 3 walks) before giving way to Manny Delcarmen, one of five relievers Francona tapped. The only blemish of the night was the homer Hideki Okajima surrendered to Oakland's Jack Cust, who recorded his first dinger at Fenway in the eighth to tie the game. "Wake again pitched great and Delcarmen gets out of the jam [with two aboard and one out in the seventh]," Francona said. "Pap [Jonathan Papelbon] gave us two [innings] and [Mike ] Timlin [who was credited with the win] threw the ball very well, and if one of those guys doesn't, we're up here bemoaning the fact that we didn't score. Because of the way that happened, we scored enough." . . . The Sox recalled righthander Chris Smith from Pawtucket. It marks Smith's third stint with the big club. He made three appearances from June 17-July 2. Smith was 1-3 with a 2.24 ERA in 31 games (including four starts) with the PawSox.

Departing duo

Lost in the reaction about Ramírez's departure from Boston was that of outfielder Brandon Moss and pitcher Craig Hansen, both of whom were dealt to the Pirates as part of the three-team trade.

Though he went hitless in three at-bats and drew a walk, Moss's defense was a factor in Pittsburgh's 3-0 win yesterday at Chicago. Moss made a couple of tough plays in right field, doubling the Cubs' Kosuke Fukudome off first base and making another catch after losing the ball in the sun.

"It's a great opportunity for Brandon," Francona said of Moss, who hit .282 with 8 homers and 30 RBIs in 43 games at Triple A Pawtucket and .295 with 2 homers and 11 RBIs in 34 games over three stints with the Sox this season. "It's hard not to be crazy about young players. When you get to see them in their first spring training, with a guy like Mossy when he wasn't real good and had a lot of learning to do, this will be a real good opportunity for him and we're pleased for that."

Hansen, meanwhile, was 1-3 with a 5.58 ERA and had 2 saves in 32 games with Boston and was 1-0 with a 1.62 ERA in 11 appearances at Pawtucket.

"Hans has been here a little bit longer, but it hasn't always gone perfect," Francona said. "Again, he'll have a little bit [more] of an opportunity than he had here. I hope he takes it and runs with it. But I don't think anybody wanted to run these kids out of town. That's not the idea."

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.