Paper Trail

Looking through today's papers:

Trot Nixon was 1-for-2 with a sac fly and a walk in four PA for Pawtucket yesterday. Nixon (wearing #6) batted leadoff, singling in the first inning and scoring on Kevin Youkilis's home run. Nixon will DH Monday night and rejoin the team Tuesday in Kansas City.

Fun With Numbers: John Olerud is 6-for-14 since coming off the disabled list. ... Bill Mueller has a 15-game hitting streak (.392) and is batting .458 (11-for-24) on the current road trip. ... Kevin Millar now has the Sox's longest home run drought (182 AB). ... Johnny Damon ended his streak of getting a hit or scoring a run in 58 consecutive games. ... Edgar Renteria has hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games, batting .344 with seven doubles, nine RBI and 13 runs scored.

Millar, acknowledging the obvious: "Olerud deserves to be playing 100 percent. I haven't been able to swing the bat the way I'm capable of, and we are at a point in the season where we have to do whatever gives us the best chance to win. If my job is to come off the bench in the eighth or ninth inning to help this team, then I will." ... Cabin Mirror is 4-for-30 (.133) in his last eight games. Only 25 of his 99 hits have been for extra bases -- and on the road, the numbers are even worse: 40 of his 47 hits have been singles.

It sounds like Craig Hansen will not be called up until rosters expand on September 1. ... Curt Schilling's stats in the pen: 21 appearances, 24.1 innings, 24 hits, 14 earned runs (five home runs), a 4-3 record with nine saves in 11 chances, 4.81 ERA. Boston was 16-5 in games in which he appeared.

Herald: "David Ortiz had a good chuckle over his decision to bunt in the eighth inning. It was his first bunt since rookie ball, he said, and that was during winter league. 'I was kind of nervous when I thought about it,' said Ortiz ... Asked if he might bunt again, Ortiz smiled widely and said, 'You never know, you never know.'" ... Flo for MVP?