Ortiz is 3-for-28 (.107 batting average) with five walks and seven strikeouts since the Sox traded away Ramirez, who also served as the clean-up hitting protector for "Big Papi" in Boston's once-feared lineup. The big designated hitter has also scored only one run in the first seven games of August and has driven in three runs out of the No. 3 spot in the Sox batting order.

It shouldn't be forgotten that Ortiz is still searching for the harmonious marriage between proper timing and the perfect swing, and both haven't immediately come back to the power hitting since returning to the lineup on July 25.

Typically players can struggle when coming back from wrist injuries, and the partially torn tendon sheath in Ortiz's left wrist is no different, but one has to pose a question at this point in Ortiz's season. How much of the struggles are due to the comeback from his wrist ailment and how much is due to the absence of his fellow Dominican destroyer in Boston's everyday lineup?

"Everybody knows," Ortiz said about missing Ramirez. "Ain't no cleanup hitter like that, you know what I'm saying? Good player, did what he was supposed to do while he was here. That's about it."

Just don't press Ortiz too much about how much he's going to miss "Man-Ram", or how he views the trade that forever altered the landscape of Boston's hitting lineup. The clubhouse has been purged of a dark cloud that had become toxic leading up to the trading deadline, but Ortiz ?- like many others in Boston ?- is going to reserve final judgment until Boston has reached their final destination this season.

"I'll let you know after the season," said Ortiz, when asked if the trade of Ramirez made the Sox a better team.

WHITE SOX 5, RED SOX 3: 2B Dustin Pedroia cracked his career-high 10th home run of the season and pushed his road hitting streak to 27 games, but Pedroia was Boston's only offensive threat. LHP Jon Lester was adequate ?- if not overpowering ?- and was touched for six hits and four runs in his fourth loss of the season.