FISK ARRESTED ON DUI

WEEI FLASH: Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk arrested on suspicion of DUI in Illinois on Mon. night.

RED SOX – YANKEES GAME II TONIGHT

WALK-OFF WINNER: Last night Boston snapped a 4-game losing streak with a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Yankees, Boston’s 3rd walk-off win of 2012 and 1st since 7/19 vs. CWS…Jacoby Ellsbury’s 9th-inning RBI single, his 3rd career walk-off hit, was the difference…His previous walk-offs came in back-to-back games last season, 8/2 and 8/3 vs. CLE.

BIRTHDAY PARTY: Jacoby Ellsbury had a season-high 4 hits last night on his 29th birthday, including the 9th-inning, walk-off single…Since 1918, the only other Red Sox with 4 hits on his birthday was Carl Yastrzemski on 8/22 in 1961 and 1976…Since 1920 (when RBI became official) the only other Red Sox with a walk-off RBI on his birthday is Hal Wagner on 7/2/44 vs. STL (GM 2) with an 11th inning single (Elias).

• In the last 70 years, only 3 other Red Sox have had 4 hits and a game-ending RBI in a 9-inning game: Carlton Fisk (7/28/75), Jeff Frye (6/14/99) and Shea Hillenbrand (4/15/03) (Elias)…Ellsbury became the 1st Major Leaguer since at least 1950 to tally 4 hits, including a walk-off hit, on his birthday.

YANKEE NEMESIS: Pedro Ciriaco is 17-for-35 (.486) with 7 RBI, 11 runs and 4 stolen bases in 9 career games vs. the Yankees, all this year with Boston…Of his 13 multi-hit games this season, 5 have come against New York, including 4 games with at least 3 hits and a pair of 4-hit efforts.

HIT PARADE: Dustin Pedroia has homered in 2 straight games and in 3 of his last 4 contests…He has hit safely in all but 3 of 34 tilts since 8/5, batting a Major League-best .375 AVG (51-for-136) to raise his overall AVG from .262 to .293, his best mark since 5/28…During that span he leads the Majors with 14 doubles and also ranks among the top 5 AL batters in hits (2nd), total bases (2nd, 85), XBH (T-3rd, 21), OBP (1st, .430), SLG (5th, .625), OPS (4th 1.055) and runs (T-5th, 25).

• Pedroia knocked his 15th homer of the season last night…Along with his 15 stolen bases, this marks his 4th career 15 HR/15 SB season, passing Jackie Jensen and Reggie Smith for the most in club history.

LESTER TO FACE NY YANKEES TONIGHT

LEFT TURN: The Sox oppose LHP CC Sabathia today and are 21-12 (.636) when facing a left-handed starter this season, tied for the 3rd-best win percentage in the Majors behind the Giants (21-9, .700) and Cardinals (19-10, .655)…Boston is 2nd in the Majors with 45 homers vs. lefties and 2nd in the AL with a .448 SLG against southpaws.

NEARING 1,000: Jon Lester enters today’s game 6 strikeouts shy of 1,000…He would become the 8th player to strike out 1,000 batters as a Red Sox and 2nd left-hander (Bruce Hurst, 1,043).

SALTY PACE: Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his 20th home run last night, tops among Major League catchers and 3 more than the next most (ATL’s Brian McCann, 17)…He is on pace for 32 homers while the all-time Red Sox record for homers in a season by a catcher is 26 by Carlton Fisk in both 1973 and 1977.

RED SOX LOOK TO STOP SKID IN TEXAS TONIGHT: GAME II

LEFT TURN: The Red Sox oppose LHP Martin Perez tonight and are 20-11 (.645) when facing a left-handed starter this season, the 2nd-best mark in the Majors behind the Giants (21-9, .700)…Boston is 2nd in the Majors with 43 homers vs. lefties and is 2nd in the AL with a .453 SLG against southpaws.

BACKSTOP BARRAGE: Last night Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his 19th home run of the season, tops among Major League catchers and 3 more than the next most by a catcher (ATL’s Brian McCann and CWS’s A.J. Pierzynski each have 16)…He is on pace for 32 homers while the all-time Red Sox record for homers in a season by a catcher is 26 by Carlton Fisk in both 1973 and 1977.

• Saltalamacchia has gone deep 8 times in 26 contests since 6/16, during which span he ranks 3rd among AL players with an average of 11.50 AB/HR (min. 100 PA)…He is tied for 10th in the AL overall with 14 homers since 5/19.

DUSTIN & DOERR: Last night Dustin Pedroia committed his 1st error since 4/20, ending a stretch of 65 errorless games…It was the longest single-season errorless streak of Pedroia’s career and the longest by a Red Sox 2nd baseman in a season since Bobby Doerr went 73 straight games without a miscue from 6/23-9/19(G2)/48, according to STATS.

LILLIBRIDGE TRADED: INF/OF Brent Lillibridge, designated for assignment by Boston on 7/16, was traded to Cleveland today in exchange for minor league RHP Jose De La Torre, who has been assigned to Triple-A Pawtucket.

De La Torre, 26, is 8-1 with 2 saves, a 2.91 ERA (18 ER/55.2 IP) and 58 K’s in 34 games (1 start) between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus this year, his 6th pro campaign.

RED SOX LOOKING FOR FOUR STRAIGHT

PICKING UP STEAM: With last night’s 7-5 win over the Marlins, the Red Sox have won their last 3 games and have taken 5 of their last 6 contests…At 34-33, the club is above .500 for the 1st time since 6/7 (29-28)…The Sox have lost 8 of their last 14 but are 11-9 in their last 20 contests…The Red Sox have won 22 of their last 36 tilts (.611) since 5/11, the 3rd-best in the Major Leagues in that time.

• With a win tonight or tomorrow, the Red Sox would earn their 9th series victory in 13 sets dating back to 5/10.

CATCHING UP: Kelly Shoppach hit his 4th homer of the year last night, the Major League-leading 15th long ball as a catcher by the Red Sox this year…The Sox are on pace for 36 long balls this season while catching…Since 1918, club backstops have tallied 30 homers while behind the plate just once, with 33 in 1973 (Carlton Fisk, 26; Bob Montgomery, 7).

• Jarrod Saltalamacchia is tied for the ML lead among catchers with 12 homers…He also leads AL catchers with 24 XBH (tied) and tops that group with a .538 SLG (min. 100 PA).

THE K-ZONE: Tonight’s starter Felix Doubront is averaging 9.94 K’s per 9.0 innings (81 K/73.1 IP) this season, 2nd among all Major League qualifying left-handers behind WAS’s Gio Gonzalez (11.10)…That rate is also 2nd overall in the American League behind DET’s Max Scherzer (11.49).

• Red Sox starters lead the Majors with 9.12 strikeouts per 9.0 innings in June (101 K/99.2 IP)…The Sox staff as a whole is averaging 8.68 K’s per 9.0 innings in June (137 K/142.0 IP)…Since 1921, Boston’s best K-rate in any full month is 8.45 (214 K/228.0 IP) in May 2001.

PAPI’S POP: David Ortiz has homered in Boston’s last 2 games and has 4 roundtrippers in his last 8 tilts…He leads the team with 17 homers this season, 7th most in the AL, and he is pacing the Majors with 8 long balls off lefties…Ortiz tops the AL with 38 extra-base hits, ranking 2nd in the Majors behind only CIN’s Joey Votto (43).

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