Ortiz Hurting; Pedoria Slugging

David Ortiz sat out last night with a sore left shoulder, which he injured sliding on July 20.

"It really grabs in there when I extend my swing. My whole hitting game, where the power comes from, is with my extension. ... With shoulder injuries, to get better you have to leave it alone, and get some time off, which I haven't. ... I think when I fly, the change in air pressure affects it. ... I hate going through this stuff. I just like to come to the park and say, 'Let's go.'

Ortiz hopes to play Friday night in Baltimore.

Eric Hinske is expected to rejoin the team Friday. His wife gave birth to a girl on Tuesday night. ... Also on Tuesday, Kevin Youkilis (1,304) broke Stuffy McInnis's team record (set in 1921) of 1,300 consecutive total chances for a first baseman without an error. ... Jon Lester is averaging 18.8 pitches per inning this season, a bit higher than the 18.6 he averaged last year.

Sean McAdam on Drew:

What's most stunning is his lack of extra-base power. With 27 extra-base hits, he ranks eighth on the Sox. His anemic .378 slugging percentage ranks him behind Alex Cora. (.405) and his six homers are just one more than Doug Mirabelli's output, despite having 222 more at-bats than the Sox' backup catcher. ... Drew went into last night hitting a mere .215 against lefties this season. ...

Red Sox officials remain mystified by his inability — refusal? — to use Fenway Park's left-field wall, as great left-handed hitters like Fred Lynn, Wade Boggs and so many others have done to their advantage. With more than two-thirds of the season complete, Drew has hit just three balls off The Wall.

Tom Yantz of the Hartford Courant begins his game story:

Dustin Pedroia is known for being primarily a singles hitter. But Wednesday, the slugger in him came out. His leadoff homer in the seventh inning broke a tie ...

Pedroia's slugging percentage of .447 is higher than that of Jason Varitek, JD Drew and Coco Crisp and is only 30 points lower than Kevin Youkilis. As far as singles as percentage of total hits, Pedroia (81 of 111, 73%) is about equal with Varitek (58 of 81, 71.6%).

Tito on the gloom-and-doomers: "People dropping off bridges are going to miss some good baseball. They'd better climb back up."