--OF Jacoby Ellsbury went 0-for-3 in Monday night's loss and extended his ALCS record of futility to 0-for-14 at the top of Boston's lineup. The hitless stretch has clearly had a de-energizing effect on Boston's lineup and is a mystery after he hit .333 and led the Sox with 6 RBI in the ALDS. Manager Terry Francona indicated that Ellsbury's name will remain atop the Sox lineup card, and he was encouraged by some of the balls Ellsbury hit in Monday's loss. "It's more fighting off some balls instead of driving them," said Francona. "I don't think he's pressing."
--LHP Jon Lester piled up a 16-inning ALCS scoreless streak without allowing an earned run before the Rays scored three on B.J. Upton's three-run homer in the third inning Monday night. The streak was the second-longest ever by a Sox pitcher without allowing an earned run, behind the 17-inning ALCS scoreless streak put together by Pedro Martinez in 1999. Overall, Lester had tossed 24 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason dating to Game 2 of last season's ALCS against the Indians. --RHP Paul Byrd made a relief appearance in Monday night's loss, the first relief stint during the regular season or postseason since the veteran righty pitched in Game 5 of the 2004 NLCS. Byrd came in for LHP Jon Lester and threw 3 1/3 innings while giving up four runs and five hits in defeat. Before the 2004 NLCS, Byrd hadn't thrown a pitch in relief since June 15, 2001 as a member of the Kansas City Royals against the Milwaukee Brewers.
--1B Kevin Youkilis went 0-for-4 in the Game 3 loss and snapped a nine-game ALCS hitting streak. Youkilis' streak was the longest to start a career since the Angels' Darin Erstad hit safely in his first nine games from 2002 to 2005. Despite the streak ending, Youkilis is still hitting a robust .488 (20-for-41) in ALCS games with three doubles, one triple, four home runs, nine RBI and 12 runs scored.
--RHP Tim Wakefield will be making his 11th career postseason start in Tuesday night's Game 4 and will be the oldest pitcher (42 years, 73 days) to start an ALCS game. Wakefield is 5-6 with a 6.36 ERA in 17 career postseason appearances, but he is 19-5 in 41 career games pitched against Tampa Bay. "I really don't have a concern (about the long layoff)," said Wakefield, who hasn't pitched in a live game since a start against the Yankees on Sept 28. "I'm ready to go."
BY THE NUMBERS: .148 -- DH David Ortiz's batting average in 27 postseason at-bats this year entering Tuesday night. Big Papi has also collected only 1 RBI while batting in the three-hole for the Sox.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "When certain guys aren't hitting, you just expect somebody else to pick up the slack. We're not going to live and die on one guy." -- Manager Terry Francona on his lineup's ALCS struggles. OF Jacoby Ellsbury, C Jason Varitek and DH David Ortiz are hitless through the first three games of the series.
