Sox able to run down another win vs. Orioles

But the Sox have won seven of their last nine games without Ramírez, including yesterday's 3-2 victory over the Orioles in which Josh Beckett won his 18th game, Jonathan Papelbon rang up his 35th save, and Coco Crisp figured in the scoring of the winning run for the second time in four games, delivering J.D. Drew (bloop single and stolen base) with an eighth-inning single.

And while Ramírez's bat has been sorely missed, the defensive play in the outfield has been superb, with rookie Jacoby Ellsbury, who has been filling in for Ramírez in left, joining Gold Glove candidate Crisp in center and Drew, an above-average defender, in right.

"Don't get me wrong, we want Manny back," Francona said, "but in the meantime we're a different-looking team, the way we're running everything down. It's fun for me to watch.

"It may be a different brand of baseball than the Red Sox are used to, but it's a way to win."

Beckett, who gave up seven hits, did not walk a batter and struck out eight in seven innings to add another plank to an already strong candidacy for the Cy Young Award, did not need highlight-reel defense to beat the Orioles. First baseman Kevin Youkilis, who now has played in an AL-record 181 consecutive errorless games at first base, made the day's best play with a diving stop of Tike Redman's fifth-inning smash, while catcher Jason Varitek contributed to a strike-'im-out, throw-'im-out double play when he threw out Luis Rodriguez attempting to steal after Roberts's whiff, which also came in the fifth.

But it's the consistency of the Sox' defense, not its ability to spin nightly web gems (though there have been plenty of those), that has most impressed Beckett, especially in light of questions raised by the departure of the brilliant shortstop Alex Gonzalez and his double-play partner, second baseman Mark Loretta, after last season. Slippage?

"I don't think we have at all," said Beckett, who is backed by numbers showing the Sox committing the second-fewest errors in the league behind the Orioles (74 to 71).