ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The anxiety was supposed to come to an end when Coco Crisp squeezed Robb Quinlan's liner for the final out of a 5-4 Red Sox win last night that ended the team's six-game losing streak.
Instead, it was just beginning, as the Sox were left to contemplate an extended absence for Manny Ramírez, the left fielder who returned to the lineup to play on a tender right hamstring but left in the fourth inning because of soreness in his right knee.
Ramírez will undergo tests this morning, including an MRI, said manager Terry Francona, who did not have much detail to offer on the condition of Ramírez's knee but looked and sounded concerned that this may be more than a minor tweak. Indeed, it raised the possibility that a Baseball Prospectus website report by Will Carroll that surfaced during the All-Star break, that Ramírez has been playing with a small tear in his meniscus -- the same injury that has sidelined catcher Jason Varitek -- will be proven correct.
All of that is speculative, of course, but the reality is that the Sox cannot afford to lose Ramírez, who was batting .377 with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs over his last 42 games dating to July 8, for any time if they expect to qualify for postseason play. With the Yankees, White Sox, and Twins all winning last night, the Sox' position in the standings remained unchanged: With 36 games left, they're 6 1/2 behind the Yankees in the American League East, and four behind the White Sox and 3 1/2 behind the Twins in the wild-card race.
``He said something to Millsie [bench coach Brad Mills]," Francona said of Ramírez. ``He didn't want to come out. But we could see it was grabbing at him. Their [the Angels'] orthopedist came and looked at him, and we have to get him checked out in the morning."
Last night's win, which ended the team's longest losing streak since they dropped nine straight under Joe Kerrigan in 2001, was not easily achieved. Two-run home runs by David Ortiz and Wily Mo Peña and an RBI single by Crisp helped the Sox build a 5-1 lead, and after the Angels closed to within a pair of runs against starter Jon Lester, the Sox' bullpen held on.
Mike Timlin pitched out of a bases-loaded jam of his own making in the seventh and Keith Foulke got two outs in the eighth before Jonathan Papelbon whiffed former Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera with the tying run on third in the eighth, and Papelbon set down the last three Angels in order in the ninth.
The Sox won despite just one hit in the last 7 2/3 innings off Kelvim Escobar (eight innings) and Hector Carrasco.
